Omicron is driving the rapid increase in cases with more than 80% of PCR specimens in the last week having the proxy marker of the variant
Western Cape premier Alan Winde. Picture: SUNDAY TIMES/ESA ALEXANDER
“The Western Cape is fast approaching its fourth wave, with new infections increasing at a rapid rate,” the premier said in a statement. He noted that the fourth wave would officially begin when the seven day-moving average of new daily infections reached 30% of the previous peak. “At the current trajectory, this is imminent,” Winde said.
New cases diagnosed daily were averaging 665 with the province entering the fourth wave when that figure reaches about 1,100 cases per day, on a seven-day rolling average. The proportion of tests coming back positive has increased to an average of 20% while the reproduction number — the number of new infections caused by one person infected — has reached a high of 2.5, which is higher than was the case in the second and third waves.
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