Premier Alan Winde is meeting with his Cabinet on Tuesday, to discuss proposals on how to slow down the spread of Covid-19 infections in the Western Cape.

In the last week, the Garden Route recorded over 2600 new cases, while the Cape Town Metro recorded about 2900 new cases in the past seven days. Premier Alan Winde was seeking legal advice to determine the province’s scope to impose stricter Covid-19 regulations, at local district level. Winde says a so-called “mini-lockdown” must be viewed as the last resort:

“On Friday, I reintroduced weekly strategy meetings where problem solving discussions are held. This strategy discussion then feeds into the weekly cabinet meeting, where decisions are taken. The Western Cape Government, as a responsible and caring government, is considering a variety of different tools and approaches at our disposal to tackling the resurgence in the Western Cape, so that we are fully prepared and can ensure that our health system is not overwhelmed.

At this stage, no decision has been taken yet on localised restrictions, and we are still seeking legal advice on what is possible given that disaster restrictions are imposed by National Government, and not by provinces.

We will communicate our plan of action at this week’s Digital Press Conference, held on Thursday.

I must reiterate that the main priority right now is to prevent a lockdown, that would devastate our economy. The best and quickest way to do this is through individuals, businesses and civil society playing their part by changing their behaviour.

We need to ensure every person wears a mask. We must avoid crowds and non-essential gatherings. And we must ensure we do not have close contact with others. If we follow these protocols, we can make a major dent in this resurgence. This should be every citizen’s priority right now.”