Western Cape responsible for nearly all of SA's new Covid-19 cases

12 May 2020 - 13:57 By Dave Chambers
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
Joggers, walkers and cyclists take the chance to exercise as South Africa starts to relax some aspects of a stringent nationwide coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown in Cape Town earlier this month.
Joggers, walkers and cyclists take the chance to exercise as South Africa starts to relax some aspects of a stringent nationwide coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown in Cape Town earlier this month.
Image: REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

The spread of Covid-19 in Cape Town continues to outpace the rest of the Western Cape and the country as a whole.

On Tuesday, Cape Town had 5,620 confirmed cases, according to the provincial government's dashboard. This is 91% of the Western Cape's total of 6,194.

The Western Cape government's Covid-19 dashboard at 1pm on May 12 2020.
The Western Cape government's Covid-19 dashboard at 1pm on May 12 2020.
Image: Western Cape government

The country saw a 6.5% daily increase in cases on Tuesday, but Cape Town's increase was 8.8%.

And while cases have increased by 50% in SA in the past week, the Western Cape has seen a 68.45% rise and in Cape Town the number has grown by 71.4%.

The Western Cape's share of SA's 698 new cases on Tuesday was 91%.

The per capita infection rate in Khayelitsha, the health subdistrict with the greatest concentration of Covid-19 cases, reached 208 per 100,000 on Tuesday.

This means one person in every 500 among the township's 4 million residents has tested positive.

The per capita rate in Klipfontein — a health subdistrict which includes Philippi, Gugulethu, Nyanga, Crossroads, Heideveld and Manenberg — was 186 per 100,000 on Tuesday. In Tygerberg, which includes Langa, Delft, Belhar, Elsies River and Bonteheuwel, it was 162 per 100,000.

In Cape Town's least-affected subdistricts — the southern, northern and eastern suburbs — it ranged between 104 and 106 per 100,000 people.


subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now