• The Western Cape is "seeing an exponential increase in admissions and deaths".
• The province is concerned about the well-being of its healthcare workers.
• Cogta Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is worried about the number of people in the province who refuse to quarantine.

The next few weeks to months will be challenging, not just for the Western Cape, but for the country, Western Cape government director-general Harry Malila has warned.

His warning comes at a time when the provincial administration is concerned about the well-being of its healthcare workers. 

A delegation from the Western Cape – thus far the province hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic – delivered a presentation of 113 slides to the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs on Tuesday evening, which started at 18:00 and ended shortly before 23:00.

"We are on the steep slope of the curve and seeing an exponential increase in admissions and deaths," said Malila.

"Healthcare workers working [on] the front line are increasingly anxious and fearful and need to be supported."

The head of the Western Cape health department, Dr Keith Cloete, told the committee that current Covid-19 deaths and hospitalisations in the province were less than projected.

He also expressed concern for the well-being of healthcare workers who had "very high levels of anxiety and fear", including for their families.

Healthcare workers are prioritised for testing.

On 18 June, the cumulative number of cases of healthcare workers who were infected was 2 560, which is roughly 6% of the total cases in the Western Cape. At the time, 729 of those were active.

There were 22 deaths - less than 1% of all known healthcare worker cases.

Premier Alan Winde said he "disputes that infections are out of control" in the province and noted that the Western Cape is now the province with the third most new infections.

Jacqui Gooch, head of the provincial Department of Transport and Public Works said they found that many people refused to be quarantined, citing fears that they would be stigmatised and worried about what would happen to their homes.

Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said this was a big concern to her. She said all efforts to curtail the spread of the disease centred around testing, tracing, quarantine and isolation.

"What really worries me was when I heard there is a very high rejection rate of quarantine," she said.

"I think we all need to do something to persuade people to really go [to quarantine and isolation]."

Western Cape Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo said they engaged community leaders, religious leaders and people who already recovered from the virus to champion the importance of going into quarantine.

Winde said he was happy that the province's testing backlog, which once stood at 28 000, had been cleared.