Another 39 people have died of Covid-19 in the Western Cape, which has seen the death toll in the province rise to 357, Premier Alan Winde announced on Tuesday.

Winde extended condolences to their family and friends.

He also said the Western Cape now had 15 756 confirmed cases, with 7 844 recoveries. 

Of the 7 555 active cases, 665 had been admitted to hospital.

However, Winde also expressed concern over possible confusion about the different levels of lockdown for "hotspots" from 1 June.

He said this could lead to people moving to places with lower lockdown alerts.

Complicate

This could also complicate the lives of commuters, who had to move through different areas.

The Western Cape says it is the first province to show the "seeding" of community transmission, and believes other provinces will soon follow suit with higher numbers of cases.

Earlier on Tuesday, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize briefed the National Council of Provinces on the Covid-19 response.

Winde said that Mkhize's presentation indicated that some hotspots could remain under Level 4 when the rest of the country moves to Level 3 on 1 June.

Hotspots are places with more than five cases of Covid-19 per 100 000 people. 

Clarity

As it stands, the hotspots include Tshwane, Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini, Nelson Mandela Bay, Buffalo City, Cape Town, the West Coast, Overberg and Cape Winelands district municipalities in the Western Cape, Chris Hani district in the Eastern Cape, and the iLembe district in KwaZulu-Natal.

"I will seek clarity from the president on this matter as he was very clear in his address on Sunday that the whole country would move to Level 3, with the hotspots being re-evaluated every two weeks," he said.

Besides the confusion of people moving through different towns or areas, different levels would also require more policing.

Winde also felt that keeping certain Western Cape areas on Level 4 would further exacerbate the economic and humanitarian "disaster" that has resulted from the lockdown. 

The province is expecting to see 200 000 jobs lost as a result of the lockdown, and supports the move to Level 3 with a targeted hotspot strategy.