WESTERN CAPE NEWS - The Western Cape has 1 978 active COVID-19 infections, with a total of 282 912 people having been infected with COVID-19 to date and 269 257 recoveries as at 13:00 on Thursday 22 April.
A total of 53 507 out of the 53 820 vaccines received to date as part of the Sisonke trial, had been administered by 17:00 on 21 April, which remains on hold at this time.
Total deaths11 581
Total active cases (currently infected patients) 1 978
Tests conducted 1 509 212
Hospitalisations 723, of which 154 are in high care or ICU
The Western Cape has recorded 5 additional deaths since Wednesday 21 April, bringing the total number of Covid-19 related deaths in the province to 11 581. We send our condolences to their loved ones at this time.
Premier Winde’s weekly digital press conference
During my weekly digital press conference today, I provided an update on the health platform, progress on our COVID-19 vaccine rollout strategy and the national Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) guidelines for the third wave.
Based on all our data, I’d like to issue a strong message to the residents of our province: there is no doubt that we will experience a third wave and we simply cannot relax.
This is based not only on international experience, where in some countries the third wave is well established, but also on data from other provinces within our own country. The NICD recently issued an alert to say that there are indications that in the North West, Free State and Northern Cape, signs of a third wave have already been detected.
Our goal – as government and as residents – must be to flatten our potential curve and push out the onset of the third wave while we vaccinate as many residents as possible.
Flattening the curve and pushing it out is in all of our hands. I am concerned that some residents seem to be acting as if COVID-19 is no longer with us. What we need is a strong and fast behavior change response to any increase in cases. We cannot let our guard down now.
At the same time, the Western Cape Government team is working extremely hard to ensure a slick vaccination rollout. In this regard, we are on track to start our mass vaccination campaign on 17 May 2021, with vaccinators trained and vaccination sites selected across our province.
Our goal is to vaccinate as many residents as possible, as quickly as possible, to mitigate the severity of the coming third wave.
“We must all take responsibility to register over 60”
The national government’s EVDS registration system is currently open for people over 60-years-old. In the Western Cape, there are 720 000 residents over 60, and we are aiming to complete the vaccination of this age band by the end of June. Key to this is ensuring we register, register, register.
To read the rest of this statement, visit the this link.
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