GEORGE NEWS - The high number of daily infections and active cases in the Garden Route will put further pressure on public and private hospitals, that are already experiencing immense pressure. "The serious concern is that there is still a long way to go," said George Hospital CEO, Michael Vonk. "The peak in hospital admissions can be expected to follow the peak in active cases by a couple of weeks and is predicted sometime in August."
Some areas of the Garden Route are already seeing the number of Covid-19 cases exceed the peak of the second wave in December 2020. Vonk said it is difficult to predict when the third wave peak will be reached, as there are many variables that influence this, including the highly transmissible Delta variant, the expanding vaccination programme, behavioural changes and the impact of the adjusted level 4 lockdown measures.
Active cases
On Tuesday 13 July, the Garden Route reported 4 792 actives cases, which is the highest incidence rate (774 cases per 100 000 population) in the Western Cape and is more than 80% higher than the provincial average (427 cases per 100 000). One week ago it was 580.
On Monday 12 July, district health spokesperson Nadia Ferreira said the Garden Route District has seen a 56 % increase in cases over seven days (5 to 12 July) compared to the previous seven days.
"The district had an increase of 1 225 new Covid-19 cases in a week's time. All sub-districts had large percentage increases, except Bitou, which has essentially maintained the status quo. George sub-district in particular had a big increase," said Ferreira. On Monday 12 July a total of 2 085 active cases were registered for George.
Ferreira said all district hospitals are starting to feel pressure with an increase in admissions. "This is especially so for Oudtshoorn, Mossel Bay and Riversdale hospitals." However, the Western Cape Department of Health confirms that the supply of oxygen to hospitals in the province is under control.
A total of 1 520 deaths was recorded for the district on Monday 12 July - an additional 66 deaths since last week.
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