Cape Town - Premier Alan Winde said the province would experience its peak of coronavirus infections soon.
The province has so far reported 50 067 confirmed Covid-19 infections, with 13 109 active cases.
To date, 35 559 recoveries were made as of 1pm on Sunday, according to the daily provincial update on Covid-19 provided by Winde.
According to epidemiological models, including the National Covid-19 Epi Model (NCEM), the province should experience its peak soon, said Winde.
Currently, the Department of Health is recording over 1 000 new positive Covid-19 cases daily.
“While we cannot pinpoint the exact date at which we will reach this peak, we are experiencing increased pressure in our hospitals. At the same time, the economy is opening up further, with personal care services re-opening this weekend and other sectors expected to open soon. Now is therefore the time to be extra vigilant to slow the spread,” he said.
“If you are over the age of 55 or have an underlying illness, you are at higher risk of becoming seriously ill or dying.
“It is therefore important that you take extra precautions and stay home wherever possible. Those who are healthy should assist those at higher risk with tasks like shopping or errands that require them to leave the house.”
Winde also lamented the infections among healthcare workers.
“Since the start of the pandemic, we have had 2118 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in healthcare workers,” he said. “Healthcare workers are on the frontlines of the fight against Covid-19, and so we have put in place a number of measures to ensure that their risk of infection is minimised. These include developing policies and guidelines for workplace safety, providing PPE in line with their risk profiles and we have also developed a risk tool for vulnerable staff which ensures that staff are graded according to their risk profile so that they can be assigned lower risk tasks.”
The number of unallocated cases of Covid-19 stands at 3 780, of which 1 988 recoveries have been made. To date, 268 268 tests have been conducted.