Jaco Marais
In the Western Cape, Covid-19 is spreading faster during the current, second wave of infections than it during the first wave.
The Garden Route has stabilised, but the province will still monitor it closely.
The province secured 744 additional beds as hospitals reach capacity.
While the second wave of Covid-19 infections is hitting the Western Cape harder than the first, it appears that the Garden Route is stabilising.
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo and head of the provincial health department Keith Cloete briefed the media on Tuesday.
Cloete said the province as a whole continued to see substantial increases in daily new Covid-19 cases, which are 2.4 times more than in the first wave peak - this despite limited testing due to public holidays and restricted testing criteria.
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The Western Cape has a risk-adjusted Covid-19 testing strategy in the Cape Town Metro due to the high demand for Covid-19 tests.
A higher proportion of tests returns a positive result than it did during the peak of the first wave.
The province is also recording more active cases and hospitalisations than it did during the first wave.
While a higher proportion of tests currently return positive results than during the peak of the first wave, the Western Cape has introduced a risk-adjusted Covid-19 testing strategy in the Cape Town metro due to the high demand for testing in the province, Western Cape premier Alan Winde announced on Monday.