Western Cape Premier Alan Winde says the province is ready to move down to lockdown level 3.

He says the province’s health system is prepared for the peak infections, which is expected at the end of June.

Winde says the conversion of the Cape Town International Convention Centre into a temporary hospital facility is also well underway.

That will provide some 850 additional beds at the peak of the pandemic

Other temporary hospitals in the Metro will provide an additional 616 beds.

That’s alongside the province’s existing 2,000 general care beds, and the 150 ICU beds in Central and Regional Hospitals across the Cape.

Winde says the hard lockdown has threatened the well-being and livelihoods of millions of people.

He believes that is also a real and imminent threat to the health of people.

Off the 312 people who’ve lost their lives to the virus national, 187 of them are here in the Western Cape.

There are still 6,089 active cases.

Fortunately 41% of the 10 000 patients the province has recorded, have made a full recovery so far.