Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane says there is a concern over the growing number of infections in the province, especially in close-knit communities.
He attributed the increase in positive COVID-19 cases to people gaining access from other provinces.
Mabuyane was speaking ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit to the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, which is the epicentre of infections in the province.
He says funerals are becoming hotspots.
“The relationship that we have with the Western Cape when people die in that province they are buried here in the Eastern Cape. So we are picking up those issues. Every funeral is becoming a hotspot as I’m talking to you. Those cases from the Western Cape are COVID-19 positive cases getting buried here. We must manage what is being imported to our province. We are working with our national strategy … that is targeting specific [challenges] in communities. We have all these other factors coming from outside trying to encroach our space,” explains Mabuyane.
In the video, President Cyril Ramaphosa visits the Eastern Cape amid growing concerns over the increasing number of COVID-19 infections:
President Ramaphosa is visiting Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape on Thursday, as part of his provincial monitoring visits to track progress on COVID-19 related work.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize says if the situation the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape is not attended to, it could ‘get out of control’.
Currently, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in the Eastern Cape is at 1534 with 24 deaths and 632 recoveries.
Latest SA stats below:
