POLL | Should Gauteng be under a stricter lockdown?

There are growing calls to implement stricter lockdown restrictions in Gauteng as Covid-19 cases increase in the province.

The latest stats from the health department on Tuesday revealed the province has the highest infection rate in the country. The cumulative number of cases is at 560,202 with 12,170 deaths and 488,844 recoveries.

On its heels are KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape with 347,136 and 309,023 cases respectively. 

Addressing the nation last week on developments in the country’s response to the pandemic, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Gauteng accounted for nearly two-thirds of new cases recorded during the previous week.

The provincial command council will meet on Tuesday to discuss the possibility of imposing more severe lockdown restrictions in the province as cases rise..

Chairperson of the Gauteng premier’s advisory committee on Covid-19, Dr Mary Kawonga, told TimesLIVE the committee meets weekly but this Tuesday’s meeting would address possible stricter lockdown regulations. 

“My opinion is that timing is really important, it is something to be discussed. I don’t want to go into details but if further restrictions are put in too late they will not have an impact,” said Kawonga.

Gauteng premier David Makhura said he was open to implementing a stricter lockdown in the province, saying “the house is on fire”.

Makhura was welcoming the 60 military health personnel who were deployed to help healthcare professionals in the province cope with the surge in Covid-19 cases.