Western Cape premier Alan Winde has called on the government to lift the ban on alcohol sales, soften the curfew, and reopen beaches as the province has passed the peak of its second surge in coronavirus infections.
In response to a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases, the government introduced new restrictions on December 28 that prohibited alcohol sales, closed beaches and brought the curfew forward to 9pm. The restrictions were brought into effect in terms of the Disaster Management Act, which gives the national government sweeping powers over the provinces, and overrides their usual role in matters such as liquor control and the management of public spaces.
“It is now 21 days since those restrictions were put in place. We need to relax those restrictions so [businesses] can start to claw back what they have lost over the past few weeks,” said Winde. The Western Cape would be putting a proposal to health minister Zweli Mkhize, the national coronavirus command council, and the presidential co-ordinating council to reopen the beaches, change the curfew to start at 11pm, and allow the resumption of alcohol sales, he said.
Alcohol sales should be restricted to Monday to Thursday for off-site consumption, but the wine industry should return to being able to sell its products seven days a week, and the hospitality sector should be allowed to resume on-site liquor sales, he said.
Western Cape head of health Keith Cloete said all the key indicators monitored by his department were on a downward trajectory, including new infections, the test positivity rate, hospital admissions, oxygen use and deaths. There had been a 21% decline in the seven-day moving average of new infections in the week to January 14; the test positivity rate had fallen from a high of more than 50% to 29.6%; and hospital admissions and occupancy rates had plateaued.
Weekly death numbers had also stopped increasing, an important shift as a week ago the province reported a 23% increase in deaths in the prior week. “There are very clear signs we have passed the peak,” Cloete said.
Case numbers had fallen by 19% in Cape Town, despite an increase in testing. All the city’s sub-districts showed a declining number of cases, with the most marked change in the southern district, which fell 36%, he said.
The Garden Route had also passed its peak, and for the first time since mid-December George Hospital was experiencing a reduction in demand, he said.
The department expects to see cases in the Western Cape continue to decline throughout February and March, but could not rule out a third surge, perhaps as early as April, Cloete said.
As part of its preparation for the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines, the department had conducted a survey among 1,680 health-care workers to gauge their views on getting immunised. Almost 20% (322) said they would not take a vaccine if offered, said Cloete. A significant number (445) were undecided, while 913 said they would definitely take it.
