Western Cape premier, Alan Winde has said that South Africa should be moved to lockdown level 1 and has issued a call for a clear plan for the termination of the national state of disaster, as “government cannot use this extreme tool forever”.
In a statement on Wednesday, he said that as the Western Cape province was exiting the third wave of Covid-19 infections, it was clear that the province “must be moved to alert level 1 as soon as possible”. He also reiterated his call to end lockdown for good.
“This move will provide much-needed support to our economy and enable us to get the balance right in saving both lives and jobs in our province. The Western Cape also calls for an end to the national state of disaster.The national government cannot use this extreme tool forever, especially if we are to grow the economy and create the jobs our country needs to recover. That is why I will request from the national government a clear plan for its termination, with set time-frames,” Winde said.
He added that: “Currently, the 7-day moving average for new cases in the Western Cape is 620. We know that we will have officially exited the third wave, in terms of the technical definition, once new infections are at 15% of the peak or 530 cases. We are quickly approaching this number. All our other indicators also continue to show a significant decline, including in hospitalisations, deaths, our test positivity rate and oxygen usage. It is simply not justifiable to impose restrictions on the economy, especially at a time when we are facing a terrifying unemployment crisis, and when the data clearly demonstrates that our health-care platform has more than adequate capacity to respond. These restrictions must therefore be relaxed as soon as possible.”
Health minister, Joe Phaahla said last week that with the third wave of Covid-19 infections decreasing, the government is starting to consider easing lockdown restrictions further.
Addressing the media on Friday (17 September), Phaahla said that some of the eased restrictions could include:
- An 00h00 evening curfew;
- Alcohol would be allowed to be sold for off-site consumption on a Saturday;
- More leisure activities will be allowed to reopen.
Professional services firm, PwC said that it expects a move to level 1 lockdown from the start of October.
Sources: BusinessTech, IOL
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