GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - The Garden Route recorded a 126% rise in new (reported) Covid-19 cases in the past week (22 to 29 December), but the rate of increase is plateauing.
According to the Western Cape Covid-19 Dashboard, the number of active cases in the district as of 29 December is 5 045 (George 2 039, Mossel Bay 986, Knysna 621, Oudtshoorn 458, Hessequa 440, Bitou 424 and Kannaland 77).
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said in a statement on Wednesday 29 December that the entire Western Cape province is starting to see a plateauing in new Covid-19 cases with a decline in the proportion of tests coming back positive. However, the number of new cases reported per day is still very high.
The province is expecting fewer cases in the coming week, but there is uncertainty as public holidays and restricted testing are affecting testing patterns.
The plateauing of new cases points to a slowing down of the fourth wave in the Western Cape, as the province is approaching its peak. The reproductive number is around 1 for the first time during the fourth wave, which also indicates a slowing down of new cases.
According to data shared in a digital conference on 29 December by Dr Keith Cloete, head of the Western Cape Health Department, overall, the number of new Covid-19 cases remains high at 4 000 new cases per day on average, with 217 new admissions on average per day.
"Those in high care and ICU remain relatively low. The number of new deaths is low at 2 deaths on average a day. There has been a 48% decline in deaths over the last week," said Cloete.
Their data showed that the risk of admission is 30% lower in the fourth wave when compared to the third wave, and the risk of admission for severe disease is 60% less during the fourth wave than during the third wave. "We believe that vaccination, as well as immunity from undiagnosed prior infection has played an important role in this."
Cloete referred to data from the Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa (NGS-SA) that have shown that the Omicron variant has become the dominant variant and made up 98,4% of reported cases during December, to date. In November it was 81,7% and in October 84,6%. In September, Delta was still dominating, making up 84,6% of reported cases.
Vaccination
Raw data analysed by the Western Cape Department of Health show that 82% of new cases and 92% of deaths were among residents who were not fully vaccinated. The analysis was done in cases of residents 18 years old and older, diagnosed between 15 November and 11 December 2021.
Vaccination stats
- 66,7% of residents over the age of 60 years old are fully vaccinated, with 5% partially vaccinated.
- 58% of residents between 50 and 59 years old are fully vaccinated, with 5% partially vaccinated.
- 62,41% of all residents over the age of 50 years old are fully vaccinated in the Western Cape, with 4,78% partially vaccinated.
- 39,89% of all residents between 18 and 49 years old are fully vaccinated in the Western Cape, with 7,34% partially vaccinated.
Booster vaccination in the Western Cape
Winde in his statement highlighted the availability of booster vaccination with both the Johnson and Johnson (J&J) and Pfizer vaccines.
The J&J booster jab has been made available from 24 December. All individuals over 18 years are eligible if they have received one dose of the J&J vaccine. They can receive this booster after an interval of 2 months (60 days).
Immunocompromised residents are eligible for a booster 60 days after receiving an additional dose.
The Pfizer booster vaccination has been available since 28 December. Individuals older than 18 years who have received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine are eligible to receive a booster dose of the vaccine after an interval of 6 months (180 days) after the second dose.
'We bring you the latest Garden Route news'
