Third-wave Covid infections in several Western Cape districts have exceeded the numbers recorded during the second wave in December and January, New24 reports.
Health officials had initially hoped the third wave would see fewer infections than in the second wave, but the spread of the Delta variant and a significant swell in numbers had made this less likely. The province now has around the same figures as experienced earlier this year in the second wave, according to the report.
It quoted the Western Cape’s health department head, Dr Keith Cloete, as saying that the Cape Town Metro, Klipfontein, Mitchells Plain, Northern and Tygerberg districts had surpassed the numbers of the second wave. The Garden Route, West Coast and Central Karoo had also surpassed the numbers recorded during the peak of the second wave.
Cloete said: ‘Case numbers continue to increase, but at a slower rate.
‘We are currently seeing an average of 3 100 new diagnoses each day. Admissions and deaths have remained at the same level, with around 335 new admissions and around 108 deaths each day.
‘As of Wednesday, there were 3 665 Covid-19 patients in acute hospitals.’