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By Bongani Hans 
1h ago
Cape Town – Health Minister Zweli Mkhize descended on the Western Cape on Saturday as pressure mounted on the national government to intervene in the coastal province that has recorded more than half of the country’s Covid-19 infections.
This after the chairman of the health portfolio committee, Sibongiseni Dhlomo, had called for urgent intervention in the spread of the virus, while the ANC wanted a return to level 5 blocking.
Speaking at a press conference in Cape Town on Saturday, Mkhize said that the spread of the virus in the Western Cape was no different from other provinces.
He said the national government would provide more support, such as more training for health workers and additional resources.
“We are also bringing in additional personnel, the Cuban specialists would also be deployed.
“We are also requesting that the province examine additional physicians as well as nursing professionals that may need to be brought into the system so that it can have an adequate response,” he said.
Mkhize said the national government intervention would inform similar interventions that would be necessary in different parts of the country.
The image that epidemiologists and the NICD have painted is clear by indicating that spread, age, sex, etc. They are similar across the country.
– Dr. Zweli Mkhize (@DrZweliMkhize)
May 9, 2020
We need to make sure that we can evaluate our community and find those that are positive. In the case of the WC, it has been 24-30% of the samples that come from the WC pic.twitter.com/M6rRt845YU
– Dr. Zweli Mkhize (@DrZweliMkhize)
May 9, 2020
He was in the province before President Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit on Friday. The president would also go to the Eastern Cape and other provinces.
Dhlomo described the situation as serious and needed urgent intervention.
“The increasing number of infected people in the province is alarming and demands that drastic measures be taken to push back the borders of the spread of the virus in the province,” said Dhlomo.
Mkhize said the Western Cape had 4809 infections followed by Gauteng in 1910. The DA-led province also had 88 deaths, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 42.
Dhlomo said Cape Town city planning to contain Covid-19 was poor, “given the number of people who tested positive in Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain and Witzenberg.”
ANC MPL Danville Smith said Covid-19 in the Western Cape required special attention.
“Therefore, the ANC urges the relevant authorities of the province to request through Prime Minister Alan Winde a special status for the National Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, to relocate the Western Cape to level 5 to control it better. spread, “Smith said.
Winde said during the press conference with Mkhize that the issue of bringing the province to level 5 had not been discussed at either the provincial government level or with Mkhize.
“Our discussion was how we look at those hot spots. Therefore, what we are doing is focusing on the critical points and the management tools around the critical points because there are many municipalities in our province that are reducing the number of infections, “said Winde.
Acting DA leader John Steenhuisen on Friday asked Ramaphosa to drop the shutdown and focus on the economic recovery.
It recently asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) not to give aid funds to South Africa if they would be used in a racially discriminatory manner.
He said the blockade was now a greater threat than the virus “because this blockade will cost far more lives than it can possibly save.”
“We have to end the closure crisis, and we have to do it now.
“We also knew that our country’s economy could only withstand a very limited freeze.
“We have very little to gain and almost everything to lose if we keep people at home and close businesses longer. That is why the blockade had an end date, “he said.
However, the Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni lashed out at Steenhuisen, asking him to “stay in his lane.”
“You have no right to instruct our president to open up the economy. That is disrespectful and unjustified. Please delete your tweet! Hayibo! Thixo! Mboweni tweeted.
Sunday Tribune
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