Lockdown laws lose traction

With South Africans living life large again following the easing of lockdown restrictions to Level 1, the Covid-19 virus is again surging in some provinces as government battles to figure out a strategy to save the economy and lives – and to decide which takes priority.

The country has, for the past few days, recorded more than 3 000 daily Covid-19 infections.

South Africa stood at 785 139 cumulative confirmed cases and 21 439 recorded deaths as of yesterday.

The Eastern Cape and the Western Cape were seeing a significant spike.

The Western Cape health department announced on Friday that Cape Town saw a 73% increase in infections, and a 28% rise in related deaths, and a lockdown proposal – as a last resort – would have been one which would have had the local tourism industry on edge.

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“This was one of a number of things that was discussed in a strategy meeting looking at options to slow the spread of the virus,” said Western Cape premier Alan Winde’s spokesperson, Bianca Capazorio.

“These included increased enforcement of mask-wearing as well as other localised interventions that will help manage the spread of the virus. None of these has yet been formally adopted.”

Capazoria said anything which came out of the meeting would have to go through the provincial cabinet before any interventions were announced.

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“The bottom line is that we cannot afford another lockdown, and our number one objective now is to get this under control by ensuring individuals, businesses, organisations, and communities take safety precautions needed to slow the spread,” Capazoria said.

“Lockdowns are blunt instruments that have major consequences both on the health and the livelihoods of people. That is why, from the beginning, we have always argued for common sense, smart tools that get the balance right between ensuring we save jobs and manage the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The Eastern Cape contributed 26 of the 61 deaths recorded in the 24-hour period to yesterday afternoon.

The cause of such isolated infections has been attributed to a lack of enforcement to regulate obedience of Covid-19 rules, pandemic fatigue, and super spreader events.

Epidemiologist Professor Jo Barnes said more people were attending events and being in public without adhering to the three basic rules of wearing a mask, social distancing, and washing of hands.

“No one is enforcing the rules. You cannot stop life… it is difficult to force people to not move. I am worried about the fact that they let people move but don’t check that people are [abiding by] the basics. It is oversight which is the problem. [Government] should control and oversee this better. They keep advertising on radio to wear a mask, but nobody checks,” said Barnes.

Other contributing factors were the Eastern Cape’s poor state of infrastructure and services and the Western Cape experiencing “imported” infections due to people flocking to popular tourist sites, she said.

Meanwhile, the Eastern Cape government had partnered with the alcohol industry to target super-spreader hotspots, and 80 community patrollers will be trained and deployed by the alcohol industry to eight police stations in Covid-19 hotspot areas in the province to ensure compliance of regulations in alcohol outlets after concerns were raised.

Convener of the Liquor Traders Formation Lucky Ntimane urged outlets to ensure their customers wear masks and sanitise.

“Outlet owners should ensure that there is good ventilation and limit the number of patrons to not more than 50% of outlet capacity to ensure social distancing. These are basic simple things we need to do to prevent the rise of infections being linked to our facilities and businesses,” Ntimane said

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