“If the peak finds us anytime, we should be ready”
By Staff
President Cyril Ramaphosa last week announced that some parts of the country would move to level 3 while other remains on level 4. Gauteng Premier David Makhura says the entire province will move to Level 3 of the lockdown at the beginning of June.
Makhura stated that “We can’t go to Level 3 in a disjoined way, we can’t have one metro in Level 4, another in Level 3 and another at Level 2,” he announced this during the virtual session of the Gauteng provincial legislature.
Makhura said his government was holding a lot of discussions with different sectors to prepare for less stringent measures. He also called on shopping malls and law enforcement to assist in making sure the province’s residents complied with lockdown regulations, as well as standards set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
He said there would be a greater focus on townships during the start of Level 3. “In the suburbs we now have more recoveries and fewer active cases, with newer confirmed cases in our townships,” said Makhura.
He also raised concerns over challenges presented by a lack of awareness in some communities, as well as spatial planning in the province, but added that those infected had been moved to the province’s own isolation and quarantine sites.
At the time, Gauteng was the pandemic’s epicenter. It now has 2 343 cases, while the Western Cape has 10 035 confirmed infections.
Gauteng, which is one of the most affected provinces, has managed to drop from 50% of all cases reported to only 15%, with reported 10% active cases of the total national figure.
The premier said it’s also had the highest rates of recovery, but that modeling was showing that Covid-19 was still far from reaching its peak in Gauteng.
“While confident, we must not think it’s done and dusted. I want to say to this house as provincial government, we are working with municipalities and various agencies. We are ready for the worst of times and will continue building capacity,” said Makhura.
“If the peak finds us anytime, we should be ready.”
He said the best scenario for Gauteng would be if Covid-19 peaked at the end of June or in August.