Western Cape outpaces Morocco as Covid-19 cases climb another 9%

13 May 2020 - 16:45
By Dave Chambers
Premier Alan Winde, centre, at the Du Toit fruit packing facility in Ceres on May 12 2020.
Image: Twitter/Alan Winde Premier Alan Winde, centre, at the Du Toit fruit packing facility in Ceres on May 12 2020.

The Western Cape has more coronavirus cases than Morocco, according to updated statistics on Wednesday.

Provincial cases increased in the day by 573 (9.25%) to 6,767, according to the Western Cape government Covid-19 dashboard, and deaths increased by seven to 117.

More than 93% of the new cases were in Cape Town, where Khayelitsha (927 cases, up 11.1%) has the highest per capita infection rate of 231 per 100,000 people.

Morocco has a population of 36-million, more than six times that of the Western Cape, but it has recorded only 6,466 infections. It has had more deaths (188), but also more recoveries - 3,099 compared with the Western Cape's 2,283.

Outside Cape Town, the worst-affected municipality in the Western Cape is Witzenberg,  Ceres, where 182 cases have been confirmed.

The Central Karoo district,  which includes Beaufort West, Prince Albert and Laingsburg municipalities, has not yet recorded a Covid-19 case.

Premier Alan Winde said on Wednesday that only 6% of residents who had died of Covid-19 had no underlying health conditions such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and HIV. This means 94% of the victims had other illnesses apart from Covid-19. "More than 65% of the victims had more than two comorbidities [serious illnesses], he said.