Coronavirus - South Africa: Premier Alan Winde update on Coronavirus COVID-19 on 12 November

Total confirmed COVID-19 cases 119 141 Total recoveries 111 087 Total deaths 4430 Total active cases (currently infected patients) 3624 Tests conducted 707 402 Hospitalisations 634 of which 130 are in ICU or high care

Cape Metro Sub-districts:

Sub-district Cases Recoveries Western 11 076 10 299 Southern 10 745 10003 Northern 7352 6927 Tygerberg 13741 12997 Eastern 11 497 10 755 Klipfontein 9748 9042 Mitchells Plain 9319 8755 Khayelitsha 8616 8089 Total 82 094 76 867

Sub-districts:

District Sub-district Cases Recoveries Garden Route Bitou 825 688 Garden Route Knysna 1788 1585 Garden Route George 4371 3775 Garden Route Hessequa 389 351 Garden Route Kannaland 148 144 Garden Route Mossel Bay 2672 2492 Garden Route Oudsthoorn 1658 1493 Cape Winelands Stellenbosch 2274 2132 Cape Winelands Drakenstein 4637 4391 Cape Winelands Breede Valley 3612 3415 Cape Winelands Langeberg 1211 1152 Cape Winelands Witzenberg 1705 1603 Overberg Overstrand 1802 1695 Overberg Cape Agulhas 356 325 Overberg Swellendam 377 354 Overberg Theewaterskloof 1268 1198 West Coast Bergrivier 530 491 West Coast Cederberg 183 175 West Coast Matzikama 774 684 West Coast Saldanha Bay Municipality 1527 1451 West Coast Swartland 1768 1644 Central Karoo Beaufort West 864 805 Central Karoo Laingsburg 143 135 Central Karoo Prince Albert 36 35

Unallocated: 2129(2007 recovered)

Data note: It is not always possible to check and verify that the address data supplied for each new recorded case is correct, within the time frames required to provide regular and timely updates. This means that in some instances, cases could be allocated to the wrong sub-districts. We are working with the sub-districts to clean and verify the data and where errors are picked up locally, cases will be re-allocated to the correct areas.

The Western Cape has recorded additional 15 deaths, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the province to 4430 . We send our condolences to their loved ones at this time.

Garden Route bushfires:

Over the past seven days, the Western Cape has seen a 20% increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases-primarily driven by increases being recorded in the Garden Route District. We are particularly concerned about the increase in the number of cases in George, Knysna and Bitou, where the test positivity rate is around 32%.

Our hotspot teams are working closely with health teams, the municipalities, environmental health officers, law enforcement and SAPS in order to manage and contain the spread of infections. We have also targeted communication to the Garden Route- with SMS and social media messaging.

As with previous bushfires in other areas of the province, we are working hard to manage this flare up and ensure that it does not spread further.

I must appeal to residents in the Garden Route and across the Western Cape to make safe, smart choices to protect themselves and others at this time.

In the bushfires that we have responded to over the past few weeks- relaxed behaviours have played a part in increased spread of infections. We must still wear our masks in public, regularly and thoroughly wash our hands and keep a distance. We also appeal to residents to avoid the 3Cs: closed spaces, crowded places and close contact.

The Western Cape has also observed a slight increase in the number of hospitalisations in the province, and in the Garden Route. We currently have a total of 74 hospital admissions in the Garden Route (COVID-19 positive and persons under investigation), with15 of these in critical care.

Overall, our healthcare services platform is still managing well, even with increasing admissions for other healthcare concerns. Our rural hospitals are currently reporting 75% occupancy, and our metro hospitals have a 77% occupancy rate- of which only 4% are COVID-19 admissions.

The Hospital of Hope at Brackengate has 42 patients admitted, and Sonstraal has one COVID-19 admission, and 12 admissions for TB, as the Western Cape Government is focusing on ramping up TB care services in the province. Our oxygen usage in the province remains stable at 35% of total availability.

Testing update:

The Western Cape continues to use the expanded testing criteria for testing and lab turn-around times have remained stable. In the week between 2 and 8 November, a total of 9167 tests were conducted in the province.

I am also pleased to announce that rapid antigen testing is now available at the Cape Town International Airport for those travelers who have arrived without having had a COVID-19 test. This provides us with an additional surveillance tool and is well timed to coincide with the positive announcement last night that the international travel “red list” would be scrapped in favour of compliance with health protocols which include a negative COVID-19 test not older than 72 hours.

Our hotspot management system has proven to be effective in identifying and managing flare ups where they occur. We also continue to monitor and track infection data using a number of surveillance methods, including wastewater testing.

We call on residents and businesses to partner with us to ensure that we are able to effectively slow the spread of the virus in the province, in order for us to move forward, and focus on important aspects of our recovery such as jobs, safety and dignity and wellbeing.

Issued by: Western Cape Office of the Premier

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of South African Government.