WITH social grants set to be paid this week, Kouga residents have been urged to adhere to COVID-19 safety precautions when in public.
According to the latest report from the Department of Health, the number of active COVID-19 cases in the Kouga region totalled 48 at the end of August.
“The Department continues to screen and test residents. A total of 5605 residents were screened these past two weeks and 160 were tested,” said Kouga Executive Mayor, Horatio Hendricks.
He cautioned that the bulk of the active cases were currently located in Humansdorp.
“The town is usually very busy when social grants are paid. It is, therefore, critical that residents adhere to the necessary COVID-19 safety precautions to minimise the risk of infection.
“Proper hygiene, face masks and social distancing remain our best defence against the coronavirus.”
The number of active cases in Humansdorp totalled 35 on Monday this week while there were nine active cases in Jeffreys Bay, two in St Francis and one each in Hankey and Thornhill.
Hendricks said the municipality’s disaster management volunteers would be focusing on areas that had become particularly congested when social grants are paid.
“Their work is to remind residents to be vigilant. Please listen to their warnings. The safety precautions are there to keep each one of us and our families safe from infection.”
The cumulative number of COVID-19 cases stood at 1 485 at the end of August, including 1402 recoveries and 35 deaths.
The breakdown per town was as follows:
- Humansdorp:total 621, active 35, recovered 571, deaths 15
- Jeffreys Bay:total 345, active 9, recovered 324, deaths 12
- Hankey:total 168, active 1, recovered 162, deaths 5
- Patensie:total 164, active 0, recovered 162, deaths 2
- Loerie:total 114, active 0, recovered 113, deaths 1
- Thornhill:total 36, active 1, recovered 35, deaths 0
- St Francis:total 29, active 2, recovered 27, deaths 0
- Oyster Bay:total 2, active 0, recovered 2, deaths 0
