Western Cape presses panic button on backlog as Covid-19 tests plummet

The Western Cape has sounded the alarm about the provincial backlog of 18,000 Covid-19 test results.

Premier Alan Winde said he had asked President Cyril Ramaphosa and health minister Zweli Mkhize to resolve the shortage of test kits at the National Health Laboratory Service.

His plea on Tuesday came as the total number of tests recorded in the health department's daily Covid-19 report fell to 12,922, the lowest total for three weeks. Only 5,473 were performed in the public sector

Winde said the test backlog had forced the province to prioritise “health care workers, those in hospital and those at high risk, including the elderly and those with underlying conditions”.

This was the most efficient way of “managing the curve of the disease in this phase of community transmission”, he said.

In his televised address to the nation on Sunday, Ramaphosa referred to the shortage of test kits and said the government was taking steps to resolve it.

On Tuesday, the Western Cape had 63% of SA's confirmed Covid-19 cases and 66% of deaths.