The Western Cape is bracing for another wave of Covid-19 infections.

The provincial Department of Health has confirmed that there has been a resurgence in cases.

Spokesperson Mark van der Heever said they had seen higher case numbers, approaching the metrics for a peak in the previous waves.

"While we are seeing an increase in new infections, our admissions, oxygen use and deaths, which are key indicators, remain low. Our Covid-19 bed occupancy rate currently makes up only 8% of all the available acute general hospital capacity."

Van der Heever added that the province had sufficient measures in place should there be an increase in hospitalisations.

"The single most important thing people can do to mitigate the impact of the current resurgence is to get vaccinated or boosted. Especially if you are at higher risk of severe disease. Those vulnerable groups are also encouraged to get their flu vaccine," he said.

On Tuesday, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) reported 7 523 new Covid-19 cases, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 852 148. This increase represents a 23.0% positivity rate.

The majority of new cases are from Gauteng (38%), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (24%). Western Cape accounted for 17%; Eastern Cape 8%; Free State 5%; North West 4%; Mpumalanga 3%; and Limpopo and Northern Cape each accounted for 1%.

There was an increase of 148 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Joe Phaahla has said the government will not drop the current measures that assist with the response to the Covid-19 virus and reiterated its intentions to use the country’s Health Act in managing infections going forward.