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More than 1 000 people have been admitted to Western Cape hospitals with Covid-19 as the province enters the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde says by Thursday there were 6,108 active cases, more than double the infections compared to the same time last month.
In the Garden Route, numbers are also escalating with 574 active cases.
South Africa on Thursday logged 9 149 new COVID-19 cases, which represents a 15.7% positivity testing rate.
According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), figures from the past seven days show that South Africa is now experiencing the third wave.
“South Africa technically entered the third wave today as the national seven-day moving average incidence of 5 959 cases, which now exceeds the new wave threshold, as defined by the Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC),” the NICD said on Thursday.
The MAC, which provides recommendations on managing the COVID-19 pandemic, defines the new wave seven-day moving average threshold as 30% of the peak incidence of the previous wave.
The majority of the new infections are from Gauteng, with 5 597 cases (61%), followed by the Western Cape with 932 (10%).
The NICD also observed an increase of 844 admissions, pushing the total to 7 300 patients in health institutions across the country.
