Cape Town - There is an established Covid-19 resurgence in the Western Cape and the provincial government will be getting tougher on people not obeying Covid-19 safety regulations, according to Premier Alan Winde.
Speaking during his weekly digicon, Winde urged that end-of-year events and festive celebrations across the province be downscaled or even deferred so as to slow the resurging viral infections.
Asked about the plan to manage private gatherings, Winde said: “We will come up with practical solutions. But citizens have got to play their part because it is not going to help anybody if we have large gatherings in our homes, in confined spaces, as those become super-spreaders.
“We are deeply concerned about the growing number of Covid-19 infections and hospitalisations in the province, which can now be considered as an established resurgence.
“A resurgence is when the number of active cases increases, week-on-week, by more than 20%. Over the last week alone, the province has witnessed a 52.1% jump in new cases, with an established pattern over time.
“We must be under no illusion as to how serious the situation is, and how quickly it can deteriorate further. I can assure you that our economy cannot afford a further lockdown,” said Winde.
Head of Health Dr Keith Cloete said: “We made a recommendation to the provincial cabinet about exploring local restrictions. The premier said a special team will meet on Friday, as of when we will be putting out specific details on what the restrictions are. By next week there should be more clarity on exactly what these local restrictions will be.
“In the face of these increasing infections it would be the responsible thing to do, “ said Cloete.
Cloete said 115 health-care workers in the province had been infected by the resurgence over the last week.
“The week before there were 54 infected health workers. You can see there’s been a 50% increase from 54 to 115 out of an overall number of 4 543 new cases in the Western Cape over the last week alone.”
Director of the provincial disaster management centre, Colin Deiner, said: “As we head towards Black Friday and the festive season, the main focus of our risk reduction strategy will be enforcement of the Covid-19 regulations.
“The Metro and district joint operational centres will oversee joint task teams led by SAPS, municipal law enforcement, the department of labour and environmental health practitioners,” said Deiner.
Meanwhile, Winde said: “Members of the public, businesses and other organisations have been urged to report violations of Covid-19 protocols immediately so that our teams can take action immediately.”
Winde said residents can report violations using the online complaint form available here or Dial *134*234# to report non-compliance of public transport.
Cape Argus