CAPE TOWN – As the third wave looms in the Western Cape, Premier Alan Winde says they will be scaling up on the oxygen capacity.
The province has nearly 3 000 active Covid-19 cases and accounts for almost 18% of the total cases in the country. There are 790 hospital cases, 111 are in ICU and 30 are on ventilated machines.
Western Cape head of health Dr Keith Cloete said the province may enter a Covid-19 third wave in two to three weeks. There has been a 25% week-on-week increase and cases had risen to about 200 a day. In the Cape Metro, there has been a 33% week-on-week rise in cases.
The combined public-private oxygen utilisation is currently at 31.84 tons per day or 45.49% of the production capacity. In total, 70 tons are available per day from the Afrox Western Cape plant, according to Winde this is sufficient to respond at a third wave peak.
Winde said: “The Afrox Western Cape plant has undertaken to scale up its provisions to respond to an increase in demand. This will be supported by the public and private sector's joint commitment to addressing the capacity challenges which were identified during the second wave, to ensure that we can respond when a surge takes place.”
The premier also said that the provincial health department will continue to monitor how much oxygen is used over the coming weeks.
“Our guiding principle remains that no person will be denied access to life-saving medical treatment. We must make sure we have enough beds, staff and oxygen to respond effectively in the month ahead,” he said.
The Western Cape has a total of 291 457 people having been infected to date and 276 962 recoveries and as of May 23, 97 410 vaccines had been administered.