Photo: Unsplash

Western Cape: Ten regions record ‘no active COVID cases’ for two consecutive days

The Western Cape’s COVID-19 dashboard highlights just how fast the virus is decreasing in the province – with active cases ‘disappearing’.

by Tom Head

02-03-2021 17:42

in News

Photo: Unsplash

South Africa is long past its second wave, and don’t the numbers show it? We have been measuring new COVID-19 cases by the hundreds, rather than the thousands over the past few days – and things are particularly looking up for the Western Cape: The province now has 10 district municipalities that have gone two days without an active case of the virus.

Number of new COVID-19 cases in SA plummets

A total of 566 new COVID-19-related cases have been identified in South Africa since the last report, Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize said in a statement on Monday night: It’s one of the lowest totals seen since the first peak of infections in August, and for now, vindicates President Ramaphosa’s decision to move Mzansi into Level 1 restrictions.

Although fears about a third wave of coronavirus continue to linger, the numbers speak for themselves at the moment: The winter will bring challenges, but efforts to suppress the spread of COVID-19 have been successful throughout 2021.

Western Cape updates: Ten areas with no new active cases

The Western Cape has twice recorded rapidly-rising rates of the disease before anywhere else in the country. The impact on the south-west has been particularly brutal, but data like this is enough to warm a few local hearts: Cases have tumbled in the province, and according to the regional government’s COVID-19 dashboard, transmission is still plummeting.

By adjusting the parameters to look at new and active cases recorded between 28 February and 1 March (the two days we have available data for), there are 10 regions in the Western Cape that are completely blanked-out. Cape Town is not one of them, however. Around 90 cases remain active here – with Khayelitsha down to just one known case since Sunday.

Places in the Western Cape that are 48 hours without an ‘active’ COVID-19 case

The blank spaces are a rare sight, as it means there are no fresh cases to report in each particular district. Several of these regions did have active cases on 27 February. But for now, we’re only taking the last 48 hours into account, and the following places have seen no increase in their total number of COVID-19 cases for two consecutive days: