COVID: Western Cape health dept urges residents to avoid being reckless over long weekend

The Western Cape Department of Health is again appealing for people to do the basics ahead of the long weekend.

It said pressure was mounting on hospitals as the province hit its third wave peak and healthcare workers couldn’t afford to deal with trauma cases on top of the COVID cases.

On Friday, Western Cape head of health Dr Keith Cloete said over the past weekend, at 17 emergency centres trauma cases had more than doubled.

With the long weekend ahead, he is yet again urging people to be responsible.

“We are going into the long weekend, so be mindful of the impact this will have on an already strained healthcare system.”

The Western Cape Department of Community Safety has also added its voice to appeals to adhere to regulations.

Spokesperson Wade Seale said from a law enforcement perspective, the department was pulling out all the stops.

“SAPS will be out in full force and there will be significant deployment from the City of Cape Town and other municipalities as well in the province.”

The department warns that those who do not adhere to regulations will be fined or spend the weekend in jail.

The Western Cape Department of Health said it was on track to receive over 246,000 vaccines on Friday. This includes Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson doses.

To date, over 1 million vaccines have been administered in the province.

Officials say the Western Cape has now reached the peak of the third wave and there’s currently over 40,000 active COVID-19 cases.

Cloete said the province would receive 117,000 doses of Pfizer and over 129,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson.

He said the province was getting closer to achieving herd immunity among those aged 60 years and older.

“We have reached at least 60% of people over the age of 60 who have either been fully vaccinated or received at least one dose of Pfizer. And that’s quite an achievement for us to get to that point already.”

But he is particularly concerned about Mitchell’s Plain where only 33% of people over the age of 60 are vaccinated.

“We have to go in and convince people of the age of 60 to get vaccinated and other age groups as well.”

-EWN

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