Cape Town – The growing number of Covid-19 infections and hospitalisations in the province can now be considered as an established resurgence, says Premier Alan Winde.
With a 52.1% jump in new Covid-19 cases over the past week, the policing in the province will be drastically increased with high visibility enforcement to help slow down the spread of the virus.
Winde said the Disaster Joint Operations Centre will co-ordinate law enforcement, which has a direct link to the SAPS, as well as law enforcement and environmental officers in the Western Cape.
There was an established community transmission of the virus again in the Western Cape, which means that it was spreading within communities at a faster rate.
“The Western Cape government is deeply concerned about the growing number of Covid-19 infections and hospitalisations in the province, which can now be considered as an established resurgence.
“Last week, we issued a hot spot alert for the Garden Route, following an alarming growth of cases in the area.
“This surge has continued to gain momentum and there are now more active cases in George and Knysna sub-districts than at any point in the pandemic to date.
“The City of Cape Town is following a similar trajectory to this region and looks to be about 10-14 days behind. We are therefore also issuing a hot spot alert for the metro,” Winde warned.
Health Department spokesperson Mark van der Heever said non-adherence to basic behaviour such as mask wearing, social distancing and avoiding large gatherings have led to a rapid increase in new Covid-19 cases across the province.
The head of Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine at Groote Schuur Hospital, UCT, Professor Marc Mendelson, said: “The only way we can mitigate this is to really increase our vigilance around all the public health interventions that are really important – if you develop symptoms at all, you isolate and seek medical help.”
Several community activists in the metro’s townships have issued an alert that the number of cases were on the rise in their areas, urging residents to follow Covid-19 regulations.
Langa community activist Luyolo Hawule said: “It’s very rare to see people wearing masks; they only wear masks when they are about to enter supermarkets or when they have meetings.
“In other gatherings that are happening outside, they do not wear masks and most of them do not even believe that Covid-19 is something that is around us, especially the youth.
’’They are taking Covid-19 and they bring it back to their parents who are weak and can easily contract the virus.”
Nyanga Community Policing Forum secretary Dumisani Qwebe said there was a serious challenge when adhering to the wearing of masks in the community.
“People are not taking this virus seriously. Environmental design is a serious challenge because people living in these areas always have someone to blame as if it’s not our responsibility to take care of ourselves and families.
“Also, the unemployment rate is playing the biggest role as our people will be gathering together for nothing. Those are contributing to the pandemic rise,” said Qwebe
Ward 52 councillor Samkelo John said: “Because we are living in a densely populated area, it is crowded.
’’We suffered a lot when corona came in March. Langa was one of the hot spots where a lot of people died, so we are in fear of these talks of a second wave. ”
Covid-19 survivor Phumla Mlisi of Mfuleni said in her ordeal with the virus, she had found that life was more important than anything else, and wanted to send out that message.
“What I can say is you have to wear a mask, sanitise your hands and stay away from crowded places.
’’It looks like the second wave is coming in strong, and we need to be aware and follow the guidelines because nothing compares to your life – your life is more valuable and more important,” she said.
Cape Times