Winde calls for Western Cape to move to Level 3 lockdown, says province is prepared for peak
Although quarantining and isolation measures are being put in place, the need is going to exceed what is available.
Winde said 90% of people who tested positive would get through with few symptoms.
“Ninety percent will be able to deal with it asymptomatic or symptomatic at home, and 10% will need healthcare.”
He added the Western Cape still believed the lockdown level should be lowered by one more notch from Level 4 to avoid further economic catastrophe after the loss of 200 000 jobs, and the collapse of 28 000 small businesses.
Winde said having different lockdown levels for different regions of South Africa would be “chaotic” once the rest of the country also started showing high local transmission numbers and increased testing.
Regions will be changing their levels quickly and it will be chaotic to keep up, hence his recommendation of one level with businesses and individuals making their own choices based on their own risks.
Cloete warned an increase in the relatively low number of cases in the rural areas and Cape Winelands was coming.
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The cases started in Witzenberg three weeks ago, and have been moving to Drakenstein, Stellenbosch and the Breede Valley in the past two weeks.
There are emerging early clusters in the Overberg (Theewaterskloof and Swellendam), and West Coast (Swartland) during this past week. But there are still many areas with no cases, or sporadic cases.
Because of the heavy load expected, the strategy is going to be to focus on high-risk patients with comorbidities and patients who are sick already.
There have also been positive results with a high-flow oxygen system with a person lying prone on their stomach, instead of using the dreaded ventilator.
Testing is severely backed up and priority is going to be given to healthcare workers and people who are already ill.
There is a backlog of between five to seven days for results.
The provincial government’s officials are meeting regularly and daily with national officials over managing the pandemic.
However, it wants to know when it is going to get its cut of the national budget, and how much, as it is currently dipping into its own funds to manage the crisis.
