Cape Town - Even though overall Covid-19 cases, admissions and deaths remain largely stable across the province, Western Cape head of health Dr Keith Cloete has said that increases in cases in other provinces, including Gauteng, are of concern.
Speaking during Premier Alan Winde’s regular digital news conference, Dr Cloete said the province was in the containment phase ahead of the expected third wave, which is anticipated to be lower than the second wave.
“However, this is dependent on the strength of our behaviour over the coming weeks. Preparations for the third wave are in full swing, with clearly identified trigger points for an appropriate health platform resource response.
“In the Metro, we expected decreased case numbers in the last week due to reduced testing with the public holiday, so the increasing trend in cases, especially from private sector tests in northern, eastern, western and possibly southern suburbs, is a concern.
“We continue to be vigilant, and track cases and hospitalisations carefully in each area, for any sign of sustained increases.”
Cloete said that in order to significantly scale up capacity to administer vaccines over the coming months, the Province needs to mobilise and assist everyone over 60 years to be registered on the Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS) before May 17.
On Tuesday, Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo joined community healthcare workers to launch a door-to-door campaign to register elderly community members on the EVDS.
Addressing the issue of vaccine hesitancy Winde said: “Understandably, some residents are still unsure about whether they should take the vaccine.
“They don’t know very much about it and the information they do have is mixed, often received through social media and word-of-mouth. This has led to concerns for some.”
As a result, Winde said the province had launched a new campaign, the #LetsDoThis campaign, whose aim is to provide accurate, reliable information on the Covid-19 vaccine and the process.
Winde said the #LetsDoThis campaign will run in all three provincial languages, and across radio, print and other targeted communication.
The province plans to launch the second phase of the vaccination programme on May 17, officially kicking off mass vaccination in the Western Cape.