Covid shake-up in Knysna, Bitou

KNYSNA | BITOU NEWS – While a brand-new age group has been added to the vaccination roll-out, the number of active cases increased in Knysna this week, breaking the trend of eight consecutive weeks of decreases.

The national Department of Health began administering vaccines to adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 on Wednesday 20 October. By Wednesday 27 October, a week later, there had been 34 735 vaccine registrations in the new age group in the Western Cape.

This brings the total number of registrations in the province to 2 418 039, which constitutes 43,08% of the eligible population.

In the Garden Route, 1 830 children between 12 and 17 had registered for their vaccine, adding to the total of 216 641 registered individuals in the district. This represents 43,76% of the eligible population.

Knysna meanwhile has seen a total of 31 009 registrations and 308 in the new age group. The sub-district has seen 54,01% of its eligible population register.

In Bitou there has been a total of 18 325 registrations, of which 128 belong to the 12-17-year-old age group. In Bitou 43,12% of the eligible population has registered.

As at Tuesday 26 October, Knysna had recorded a total of 8 069 cases of Covid-19, of which 7 782 have recovered, 255 have died, and 32 are active cases. This indicates a total of 19 new cases between 19 and 26 October, which amounts to a 171,43% increase (+12) from the previous week.

The active cases rose by 10,34% (+3) this week. The recovery rate has decreased ever so slightly to 96,44% (96,47% last week), the the fourth-highest number of the year, while the mortality rate stays on 3,2%.

In Bitou as at Tuesday, 4 347 Covid-19 cases had been recorded, with 4 192 having recovered, 135 having died, and 20 being active cases. This shows a total of six new cases recorded between 19 and 26 October, rising by 100% (+3) from last week.

The active cases dropped by 16,67% (-4) this week, the lowest number since 10 May. Bitou's recovery rate is now 96,43% (96,38% last week), its highest percentage since the sub-district was on 100% recovery rate on 29 May 2020, and the mortality rate remains on 3,1%.

Graphics: Blake Linder