The Western Cape recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases on Christmas Day. Image: Pexels
COVID-19: Western Cape records highest cases on Christmas Day
The Western Cape recorded the highest new infections in South Africa on Christmas Day, with KwaZulu-Natal coming a close second.
The Western Cape recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases on Christmas Day. Image: Pexels
The Western Cape has recorded the most new COVID-19 infections in South Africa on Christmas Day. Interestingly, the nation’s fourth wave of infections originated in Gauteng. Despite this, the province has seen a slump in cases amid the pandemic.
However, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces have recorded spikes in infection rates. In line with this, the Western Cape recorded 3 749 out of the 14 828 recorded in South Africa on Christmas Day.
Furthermore, KwaZulu-Natal recorded 3 601 infections while Gauteng recorded 2 769. Additionally, the Eastern Cape also noted a substantial number of cases with 1 720 new infections reported.
Western Cape tops COVID-19 charts
Notably, the Western Cape’s new infections represents 25% of South Africa’s new COVID-19 infections.
This is according to National Institute for Communicable Diseases’ Sinenhlanhla Jimoh.
In a statement released on Sunday, Jimoh also highlighted that the KwaZulu-Natal province came in a close second with 24% of the recorded cases.
Gauteng followed with 19% of new infections while the Eastern Cape contributed 12% to the total number of new cases.
In total, South Africa recorded 90 773 COVID-19 related fatalities of which 30 were newly reported. Furthermore, 80 citizens required hospitalisation, increasing this statistic to 9 089.
Healthcare workers on COVID-19 in Western Cape
Almost two years since the onset of the pandemic, the Western Cape government lauded healthcare workers for their dedication. Dr Mumtaz Abbas from the Bishop Lavis Community Day Centre says healthcare teams are exhausted but have hope.
“My team and I have been through multiple rapid changes since the start of the pandemic; and we have learnt to do things differently and work differently. We are all trying our best to provide our patients with the best possible healthcare, but we are tired. We are at a point where we would like to go back to normal but at the same time trying to live with our new normal.”
Dr Mumtaz Abbas
