The Western Cape Government says there has been a 52% jump in new cases of COVID-19 in the last week alone, saying the infections can now be considered an established resurgence.
The province says there has been a consistent week-on-week increase of more than 20% for hospitalisations as well. Infections are mostly recorded in the Garden Route and the Cape Metro.
The province has recently issued hotspot alerts for the Garden Route and the Cape Metro. It says the growth in cases has been recorded in every sub-district of the Cape Metro, and it is becoming more concerned about the Cape Winelands District.
Yesterday we announced the resurgence of #Covid19 cases in the Western Cape, most notably in the Garden Route and Cape Town Metro areas. We can’t afford another lockdown so it’s up to us to do what we can as individuals to stop the spread. Full release: https://t.co/wOWvCqcXOH pic.twitter.com/uqphAWaHm5
— Western Cape Gov (@WesternCapeGov) November 26, 2020
The City of Cape Town on Thursday took to widening distances between street vendor stalls in Mitchells Plain to ease congestion. Most welcomed the measure, saying it is better than being moved to a lockdown again when they had no income at all.
“From the start of the COVID-19 it was closed here completely, and I’m scared it’s going to be closed again and it is horrible for business,” says one of the vendors.
Western Cape Premier concerned about increasing COVID-19 infections:
Adherence to COVID-19 protocols
Premier Alan Winde says hospitalisations currently stand at 904, an increase of 63% since the beginning of this month. 93% of that number is in the private sector, and 75% are critical admissions.
Winde says the province cannot afford a lockdown again, urging adherence to COVID-19 health protocols. “Every single person in this province, we need to make sure that we all help avert another lockdown, I can assure you, our economy cannot afford further lockdown and the blunt tools of further lockdowns, just general hospital care and those other critical ailments that our citizens have and need care for, our healthcare system cannot afford to have this resurgence. We need to adhere to rules, we know exactly what to do.”
Meanwhile, provincial Finance Minister, David Maynier, has set aside R71 billion for the next financial year as he presented his medium-term budget speech in the provincial legislature.
Maynier says R1.4 billion will immediately go to support jobs and safety during COVID-19. “We have to face the fact that the demands on government have never been greater but there is significantly less money to do the job and because of that we will have to make difficult decisions in the Western Cape.”
The province says Disaster Teams will increase visibility in an effort to enforce COVID-19 regulations to slow down the spread of the virus.
The latest coronavirus stats:
Loading…
