Coronavirus - South Africa: Premier Alan Winde update on Coronavirus COVID-19 on 14 October

Total confirmed COVID-19 cases 112 605 Total recoveries 105 510 Total deaths 4277 Total active cases (currently infected patients) 2818 Tests conducted 570 960 Hospitalisations 493 with 112 of these in ICU or high care

Cape Metro Sub-districts:

Sub-district Cases Recoveries Western 10014 9288 Southern 10257 9430 Northern 7019 6617 Tygerberg 13740 12997 Eastern 10539 9922 Klipfontein 9385 8725 Mitchells Plain 8806 8317 Khayelitsha 8426 7981 Total 78029 73177

Sub-districts:

District Sub-district Cases Recoveries Garden Route Bitou 650 616 Garden Route Knysna 1584 1517 Garden Route George 3687 3459 Garden Route Hessequa 333 309 Garden Route Kannaland 133 122 Garden Route Mossel Bay 2452 2321 Garden Route Oudsthoorn 1529 1350 Cape Winelands Stellenbosch 2155 2031 Cape Winelands Drakenstein 4482 4216 Cape Winelands Breede Valley 3508 3349 Cape Winelands Langeberg 1182 1110 Cape Winelands Witzenberg 1649 1551 Overberg Overstrand 1666 1596 Overberg Cape Agulhas 303 280 Overberg Swellendam 356 337 Overberg Theewaterskloof 1204 1151 West Coast Bergrivier 488 429 West Coast Cederberg 170 164 West Coast Matzikama 634 497 West Coast Saldanha Bay Municipality 1454 1333 West Coast Swartland 1668 1545 Central Karoo Beaufort West 815 709 Central Karoo Laingsburg 142 132 Central Karoo Prince Albert 34 31

Unallocated: 2141 (2078 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 an additional 7 deaths, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the province to 4277. We send our condolences to their families and friends at this time.

Old aged homes continue to show decline in active cases:

The Western Cape Department of Social Development has recorded a significant decrease in the number of active cases of COVID-19 in old aged facilities across the province. People over 55 and people with comorbidities are in the high-risk groups for becoming seriously ill, and so we are pleased to report that the number of infected people in old aged homes currently stands at seven. We have recorded over 1600 recoveries in old aged homes across the province.

While this is encouraging, the Department of Social Development, under the leadership of Minister Sharna Fernandez continues to monitor cases and ensure that strict health and safety protocols remain in place.

We all need to take precautions to protect ourselves and those who fall into vulnerable groups, including those over 55, diabetics, as well as those with heart, lung and kidney disease, and hypertension. By continuing to protect these groups, we can help to save lives, and reduce the numbers of people requiring hospitalisation.

Municipalities offer support to local businesses:

COVID-19 and the lockdown have had a significant impact on businesses across the province- particularly those in the tourism and hospitality sectors, which are significant employers in our rural areas.

The Western Cape Government has been working closely with our local municipalities to ensure a coordinated response to COVID-19. I am very pleased to see that municipalities are now focusing their attention on supporting businesses in order to save jobs.

Minister of Local Government and Environmental Affairs, Anton Bredell has detailed a series of initiatives municipalities have put in place.

These include:

- Saldanha Bay Municipality: Cell C in partnership with Facebook and the Saldanha Bay Municipality (SBM), have launched public access WIFI hotspots and Cell C Fiber hotspots using the Municipality’s Baobab fiber infrastructure. The programme will enable users to connect to the Internet via Facebook's Express Wi-Fi platform, providing free connectivity to those who need it the most.

- Stellenbosch: stakeholders which include the municipality, Visit Stellenbosch, the University of Stellenbosch and Wesgro have been working together throughout lockdown to care for the community as well as jump-start economic activity in critical areas tospeed up recovery. Support Stellenbosch is the result of excellent cooperation and teamwork from various partners in town. Support Stellenbosch is the overarching umbrella for various initiatives to reboot and support businesses who were especially hard hit in COVID and Lockdown.

- Mossel Bay Municipality has committed to ‘The Great Escape to Mossel Bay’ initiative, promoting support to local businesses and especially the tourism and hospitality industry. The municipality has also embarked on a ‘Buy Local, Support Local’ campaign.

- The West Coast District Municipality has established the West Coast District Local Economic Cluster, to assist the region with economic recovery post COVID-19.

These are just a handful of the initiatives undertaken by municiapalities to support recovery. These initiatives are in addition to the various initiatives in place in municipalities to protect residents and to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Businesses across the province need our support right now, and I encourage everyone, no matter where you live, to support a small or local business. I also encourage businesses to ensure that they are doing everything possible to ensure the safety of their staff and their customers, so that we can all move forward safely.

Issued by: Western Cape Office of the Premier

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of South African Government.