Cape Town - Premier Alan Winde wants to make a recovery deal with citizens and business owners of the province to ensure there are no further lockdowns as a result of a second wave of Covid-19.
Winde made the proposal during his regular digital news conference on the province’s health response to the pandemic at which he was joined by health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo and head of health Dr Keith Cloete.
Winde said: “I am really looking for a deal. I am looking for a recovery deal with every citizen and every business owner of this province.”
“We in the provincial government worked very hard on our post-Covid-19 pandemic recovery plan and have to have a deal to ensure that we continue to flatten the curve, beat this virus and also beat a second wave or potential further lockdowns,” he said.
“We’ve got to claw back all those 150000 lost jobs.
“We also have to continue making it safe in our province.”
“We will continue to fight for the economy and for jobs every day. But if further restrictions are imposed on us because of a major flare-up of Covid-19, this will be detrimental to our efforts to recover from this crisis.”
Mbombo said: “We know we can’t stop people socialising but we can all try to make sure that we stay safe doing so.”
“We appeal to people to make safer choices. Focus on three key things in addition to mask-wearing and hand hygiene when doing so.
“Avoid crowded spaces; avoid close contact when you are not able to keep a 1.5-metre distance; and avoid confined and enclosed spaces where there is poor ventilation,” said Mbombo.
Cloete said: “We continue to use our surveillance systems to find and zoom in on infection bush fires.
“This has allowed us to pinpoint spikes in infections in recent weeks, first in the southern and western sub-districts, and more recently in George, on the Garden Route. We believe these spikes are related to a general relaxation when it comes to following safety and infection prevention protocols.”
“By zooming in on the cases, we can also see a number of trends developing. The increase in the numbers of new cases are primarily driven by young people between the ages of 15 to 25,” said Cloete.
Cape Argus