Garden Route Covid infections continues to decrease - we need to save jobs

The reduction in the number of covid infections in the Garden Route is a clear demonstration that the current hotspot declaration of the area should be lifted.
After a short period where cases plateaued, the Garden Route is once again on a downward trajectory, with a  49% drop in the last week. Since 1 January the weekly number of new cases reduced from 1 975 to 296 between 22 – 26 January 2021, resembling those seen around 11 November 2020.

As the Western Cape Government’s lead in response to covid-19 for the entire Garden Route, I therefore call on President Cyril Ramaphosa to urgently repeal this declaration, while also taking heed of Premier Alan Winde’s submissions to him.

The people of the Garden Route have clearly shown that they are adhering to all the regulations, and I am certain President Ramaphosa does not want to replace the health pandemic with an economic disaster.

I’d like to take this opportunity and thank all our health and other frontline workers who are steadfast in their commitment to assist and support our people. Your work is not going unnoticed and we applaud your tireless efforts. Further to this, I also thank our partners across the various sectors and particularly our communities at large for diligently playing their part in combatting the spread of covid and ensuring that the infection rate could be reversed.

Since our collective call to adhere to all the regulations the entire Garden Route demonstrated their resilience, and this along with the behaviour change is commendable.
I’d like to urge President Cyril Ramaphosa to be rational and take this opportunity to show the people of this region that he acknowledges our efforts and therefore agrees with the various proposals which Premier Alan Winde’s has placed before him. Amongst others, these include opening our beaches, relaxing the curfew time and allowing liquor trading within a limited period. This will bring about an immediate economic boost, which is desperately needed in the area.

In order for us to continue saving lives, I also encourage all citizens of the Garden Route to wear a mask, regularly wash or sanitise our hands, keep a safe distance of at least 1,5m and at all cost avoid gatherings where space can be an issue.

The onus remains on us if we’re to continue reducing the infection rate.