Western Cape health department notes decrease in COVID-19 hospital admissions

The Western Cape Department of Health says the rate of COVID-19 hospital admissions is starting to decrease in the province. This comes despite a sharp increase in active COVID-19 cases in the province’s fourth wave of infections, which are driven by the Omicron variant.

Head of the Western Cape Department of Health, Dr Keith Cloete, says around 140 COVID-19 patients are currently being admitted to hospital every day.

Speaking during Premier Alan Winde’s weekly online media briefing, he says the current rate of admission is 40% of what it was during the peak of the third wave.

“Currently, we are sitting at 136 admissions per day, but if you compare that to the third wave, which was the first of August it 362 admissions. Compare that to the peak of the second wave, which was the second of January, earlier this year, it was 478 admissions on that day. So, our admissions is 40% of the third wave peak, because of these fewer admissions that we see now.”

NICD briefing on developments around COVID-19: 

Fourth wave

Premier Alan Winde says the provincial government is working hard to find the right balance between protecting lives and protecting livelihoods, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The province is currently in the midst of a fourth wave of infections, driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

Winde says although the provincial government’s main aim is to protect the healthcare system, jobs should also be safeguarded.

“Everything we do is always about trying to save lives, protecting our healthcare system, but of course, at the same time, enabling economic activity and specifically, I want to say, that in the hospitality industry, we need to get that balance right. We don’t want to be in that space, where we have massive spreading events, but we also need to make sure that we are balancing those jobs while saving lives and protecting our healthcare system.”

The Western Cape currently has around 44 000 active COVID-19 cases.

Around 830 of them are receiving treatment in hospitals.

Just over 20 000 people have died from the virus in the province during the pandemic. More than 4.4 million vaccine doses have already been administered in the province.

Community of Kliprand hopes the Covid-19 fourth wave passes: