This was revealed during a briefing by members of the Western Cape government to Parliament’s portfolio committee of Cooperative Governance and Cooperation on how it is managing the pandemic.

The province is the epicentre of the pandemic with more than 53 000 confirmed infections and just more than 1 500 people deaths reported.

The Western Cape houses more than half of the COVID-19 positive cases in the country and there seems to be no relief in sight, despite extensive interventions, to add to this government’s quarantine and isolation sites are being rejected on a large scale.

The minister of Cooperative Governance Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma expressed concerns about this…

Dlamini-Zuma says, “Health MEC, Dr NomaFrench Mbombo says they are trying various ways to influence those who reject quarantine or isolation.”

Head of the Provincial Transport Department Jacqui Gooch says, “All the way from whether you can smoke, move around freely, to very real concerns around who will look after my home, their things, who will look after children if they are the breadwinner in the area.”

The provincial Head of Health Keith Cloete, says they have managed to eliminate the testing backlog in the province, that at some point stood at 11 000.

Cloete says, “There is currently no backlog, as of last week. All samples are being processed by NHLS in this province, samples received in the last 48 hours.”

Meanwhile, Premier Alan Winde says the province has seen a slight reduction in cases over the past two weeks.

Winde says, “In the last probably two weeks we have not been doubling every eight days which was expected, we have been able to manage that down, other provinces with higher rates of infection than the WC.”

Winde also appealed to businesses to always act with the best interests of their clients and staff at heart and abide by the COVID-19 restrictions and regulations to ensure maximum safety, as restaurants, hair salons ready to resume trading.

Winde said customers must also act responsibly by wearing a mask and to stay at home if they feel unwell.

The Western Cape continues to account for the highest number of infections at 53 512 confirmed cases and 1 536 people have died from COVID-19 in the province.

The province also said clinical protocols are already being developed for the use of the drug, dexamethasone, in its battle against the disease.

SABC News