Media Release: Update on the coronavirus by Premier Alan Winde

11 July 2020

As of 1pm on 11 July, the Western Cape has 15 930 active cases of COVID-19, with a total of 76 851 confirmed cases and 58 598 recoveries.

Sub Districts Cape Town Metro:

Sub-districts:

Unallocated: 6133 (3947 recovered)

Data note:  As the province moves closer to the peak and the Department of Health is recording over 1000 new cases daily, it is not possible to check and verify that the address data supplied for each new case is correct, within the time frames required to provide regular and timely updates. This means that in some instances, cases could be allocated to the wrong sub-districts. We are working with the sub-districts to clean and verify the data and where errors are picked up locally, cases will be re-allocated to the correct areas. 

More data is available here: https://coronavirus.westerncape.gov.za/covid-19-dashboard

The Western Cape has recorded an additional 41 deaths, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the province to 2323. We send our condolences to their family and friends at this time.

Neighbourhood watches help in the fight against COVID-19:

Today,  Minister of Community Safety, Albert Fritz, launched the Neighbourhood Watch (NHW) Safety Improvement Volunteers Project in Khayelitsha, handing over 15 starter kits to neighbourhhod watches in the area. 

These Neighbourhood Watches will help to ensure social distancing, hygiene, and mask wearing in places where people congregate (such as shopping centres, transport interchanges and SASSA paypoints) in their communities, and form part of our hotspot strategy interventions to bring about behaviour change and slow the spread of the virus.

They have received training from Medicins Sans Frontiers, and the starter kits include sanitisers, bottles for the sanitiser, masks, branded Neighbourhood Watch t-shirts and tape that will allow them to mark out lines for social distancing.

The pilot programme initially includes the 15 Neighbourhood Watches in Khayelitsha, but will be rolled out to an additional 23 neighbourhood watches in the Eastern, Tygerberg, Klipfontein and Southern hotspot areas.

The programme has been designed with accountability and monitoring in mind. Applications were scrutinized by a panel made up of representatives from the Department of Community Safety, SAPS and the City of Cape Town. Neighbourhood watches have to be accredited, and supported by SAPS and their CPF.

They will also be expected to keep daily logs, which should be verified and the Department will conduct unannounced visits to oversee the work they are doing.

COVID-19 is something we should all be working to fight, and we thank these Neighbourhood Watches and their members for taking the health and wellness of their communities seriously, and acting as ambassadors, setting the example for change. 

The role of business in fighting COVID-19:

Businesses and individuals alike should all be taking responsibility for fighting COVID-19 to ensure the safety of their staff and their customers.

Businesses can help to reduce the risk of infection by consulting the detailed guidelines produced by the Department of Health and the Economic Development and Tourism here: https://coronavirus.westerncape.gov.za/frequently-asked-questions/frequently-asked-questions-how-prevent-and-manage-covid-19-infections 

Businesses must ensure that staff and visitors to their premises are able to keep a distance of 1.5 metres, and should implement hygiene and safety measures such as hand sanitizing, temperature checking and screening where necessary and regular surface cleaning.

High traffic surfaces such as counter tops, desks, door handles, elevator buttons, card machines, telephones and computers should all be regularly cleaned with the appropriate cleaning materials or a bleach and water solution.

The link above also contains details for businesses to report a case, and for members of the public to report businesses they feel are not abiding by the health guidelines. We encourage everyone to be extra vigilant to ensure that we are able to slow the spread of COVID-19, protect ourselves and protect our loved ones and those who are at higher risk of serious illness due to their age or underlying illness.

Issued by Western Cape Office of the Premier, 11 July 2020