Durban - KWAZULU-NATAL Premier Sihle Zikalala strongly warned businesses, especially the hospitality sector and liquor traders, that the province would “definitely” go back into a hard lockdown if citizens did not change their behaviour and adhere to Covid-19 health regulations.
Zikalala issued the warning at a media briefing in Durban yesterday, where he told journalists that many people appeared to have abandoned protocols such as the wearing of masks, hand sanitising and social distancing.
He said those who posted pictures of themselves at bars without wearing masks, and the owners of those establishments, would “face the music”.
“There are strong indications that Covid-19 is still alive and well. The number of confirmed positive cases in the past two weeks has increased by 1720 cases, which brings the province to 122138 total confirmed Covid-19 cases. The overall provincial percentage change for the past two weeks was an increase of 28%,” Zikalala said.
He said the increase in the number of positive cases in the past 14 days occurred in nine districts, with just two areas - uMkhanyakude and Zululand - observing a decline, while Harry Gwala District had the highest increase in the number of new cases provincially.
Zikalala said the government was worried that the number of deaths had increased by 186 in the past two weeks, bringing the total number of fatalities in the province to 3192 since the start of the pandemic.
“The number of deaths has been declining with the decrease in the number of confirmed cases. However, due to delayed reporting of death in some instances, and the data cleaning done by districts and facilities, more deaths that occurred earlier in the pandemic are currently being reported,” he said.
However, Zikalala said the government was “deeply bothered” by the “largely care-free attitude” displayed by some citizens since the downgrade to lockdown level 1.
“Despite our warnings about tangible examples of a second wave of infections and deaths, it seems that many people have thrown all caution to the wind and gone back to their old ways. Gone are the masks, and sanitising of hands, as well as adhering to social distancing. In many instances, if you didn’t know, you’d swear there was no Covid-19 lurking, let alone the fact we are still under a national lockdown,” he said.
“Looking at the statistics around us, we can now safely say that we are definitely going back into a hard lockdown if there is no urgent and drastic change in behaviour.
“A second wave of Covid-19 will be stronger and deadlier, not only in terms of taking human lives, it could deal our economy a major blow. It is something that all right-thinking citizens should be doing everything possible to avoid,” he said.
He called upon businesses, particularly those in the food and hospitality sector, to ensure that there was strict adherence to level 1 lockdown regulations.
“There is no use in chasing profits today, only to be shut down by a hard lockdown tomorrow,” Zikalala warned.
“We want to warn liquor outlets, who do not abide by the national lockdown regulations, that we’re coming for them. Alcohol is usually a major contributing factor to road crashes and other social ills, such as gender-based violence, and interpersonal conflicts, which often turn fatal. Reckless trading in alcohol, therefore, has the potential to derail all the progress that we have made in preparing our health-care systems for a potential onslaught of Covid-19.
“Failure to adhere to the restrictions is an affront to the state, and undermines the progress we have made. We want to warn those posting pictures of themselves without wearing masks in liquor outlets, they will face the music, together with owners of these establishments,” he said.
Zikalala said the Department of Education had worked hard to ensure the readiness of the class of 2020 for its matric examinations. He said the province was ready to administer the exams, which start on November 5 and finish on December 15.
“The province has registered 145878 full-time National Senior Certificate candidates, 22011 part-time candidates, 35105 supplementary examination candidates, 18072 Multiple Examination Opportunity candidates, and 15667 progressed pupils.” Zikalala said.
“The training of monitors and invigilators has been completed. The Education Portfolio Committee and teacher unions will join the monitoring teams. External monitors will be deployed by Umalusi and the Department of Basic Education. Monitors and invigilators will visit examination centres to ensure that the 2020 public examinations are credible and have integrity.”
The Mercury