- The province is recording more than 1 600 cases on average daily.
- On Sunday, the province recorded 4 655 cases.
- Increase in cases linked to Omicron variant.
The Western Cape has officially entered the fourth wave of Covid-19 infections.
On Monday, Premier Alan Winde said the province had reached 30% of the cases recorded at the peak of the previous wave.
"The Western Cape has officially entered the fourth wave of Covid-19 infections, in terms of the technical definition provided by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD). Using this definition, we will be in the fourth wave when the number of new Covid-19 cases reaches 30% of the peak of the previous wave, based on a seven-day moving average. This would be approximately 1 100 new cases, daily," said Winde.
The current seven-day moving average of new daily cases increased to approximately 1 600 cases per day and was expected to increase.
On Sunday, the province recorded 4 655 cases - 13% of all the new cases in the country.
READ | Covid-19: Traces of Omicron variant detected in Cape Town's wastewater
During the peak of the third wave, the Western Cape saw around 3 000 new cases on average daily.
"The Western Cape is not yet seeing the same rapid increases in hospitalisations and deaths as previous waves, although it is still too early to tell if this trend will continue over the next few weeks," said Winde.
Winde said while it was always scary to hear the province facing another wave of Covid-19 cases, everyone should get vaccinated as soon as possible to prevent severe illness.
As of Sunday, the number of Covid-19 hospitalisations across private and public hospitals stood at 439, with a total of 45 people admitted to ICU and high care.
Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo said: "[We] need to protect our healthcare system, especially so we do not have to de-escalate other life-saving services. The best way to do this is to vaccinate because vaccinations prevent severe illness. It will keep you out of the hospital and out of ICU. Please act now, so that you get through this wave safely."
Last week, the province saw the proportion of positive tests increase to an average of 20%. Over 80% of PCR specimens in the previous week had the proxy marker of the Omicron variant, indicating the rapid increase in cases was linked to this new variant
"What is different in this wave is that we have the vaccine as a weapon in the fight. Let's use it. The risk is simply too great to not get vaccinated now. If you haven't had a chance to, please go as soon as possible. It is quick and easy and should not take you more than 30 minutes. If you still have questions on the vaccine itself, please chat to a doctor and get the answers to the questions you may have. The time to act is now," Winde added.
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