Khayelitsha lauded for flattening the COVID-19 curve

It seems the Khayelitsha community in Cape Town is winning its fight against COVID-19, even prompting praise from Western Cape Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz.

He has emphasised however, that the feat was a result of efforts from local NGO the Khayelitsha Development Forum (KDF), the community as well as frontline healthcare workers.

“As a province, we continue to face a pandemic which has taken many lives and destabilised our economy, resulting in many becoming unemployed. However, the outcome could have been far more severe had we not had the support of Khayelitsha’s residents, NGOs and healthcare workers,” Fritz said.

When the country was still in its first wave of COVID-19 infections, Khayelitsha was among the hardest hit communities in the city. According to Fritz, the number of cases had reached a high of 168 on 24 May, based on a 7-day moving average.

“However, during the second peak we saw a considerably lower number of cases per day recorded, with a high of 74 on 16 December,” he said.

“While the second peak shows a more positive outcome, it did not come without tremendous loss for many families in Khayelitsha. I wish to convey my heartfelt condolences to all who lost loved ones to the virus. We cherish and honour the memory of those who have passed”

Western Cape Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz

Intervention measures helped limit COVID-19 spread in Khayelitsha

When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, Western Cape Government assembled a Hotspot plan, in which each Provincial Department was allocated a “COVID-19 hotspot” – the Community Safety Department was charged with overseeing the Khayelitsha and Eastern hotspot.

Fritz said that some of the provincial government’s intervention measures have played a significant role in limiting the spread of COVID-19.

“As the Western Cape Government, we care deeply about the wellbeing of our citizens and it was crucial that we took every step in our power to stop the spread of Covid-19. There were numerous interventions in Khayelitsha, aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19, which were supported by stakeholders across the community,” he said.

The Western Cape is one of the most infected provinces in the country, with over 272 000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, while 10 638 people succumbed to the virus.