What you said: Calls for government to impose tougher lockdown restrictions in Gauteng

TimesLIVE readers have weighed in on whether Gauteng should be placed under a stricter lockdown, with thousands sharing their thoughts on the state of the pandemic in the province.

TimesLIVE ran a poll on Tuesday in which readers were asked to weigh in on calls to impose tighter regulations in Gauteng.

A total of 57% said stricter measures should be put in place to protect lives.

Twenty percent of participants said it was too late, while 23% said they were tired of all lockdown levels.

The results come amid a huge spike in Covid-19 infections in the province, to higher daily increases of infections than those seen in both the first and second waves.

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) reported 17,493 new cases on Tuesday, with 10,000, or 62%, of these coming from Gauteng.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said last week that the province accounted for nearly two-thirds of all new infections in the previous week.

On Tuesday, Ramaphosa said the surge in Gauteng was an indication that increased measures have to be put in place. 

Speaking during a visit to Cape Town on Tuesday, as reported byTimesLIVE, Ramaphosa said he was “deeply worried” about infection rates in Gauteng.

“We are seeing infection rates that seem to be much higher than what we have seen before and premier David Makhura is dealing with this challenge. Acting minister of health Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane is also involved and we are very grateful to have a soldier corps who are able to go in to assist,” said Ramaphosa. 

Sunday Times Daily reported that Gauteng premier David Makhura is due to meet the national advisory body and government on Thursday to discuss the province’s response to the surge in infections.

Discovery Health CEO Dr Ryan Noach told CapeTalk hospitals are struggling to deal with the influx of Covid-19 patients and suggested a short lockdown.

“Perhaps a circuit-breaker is required, a short-term lockdown just to try to change the trajectory of infections at the moment. It is such an unpredictable disease, and we just don’t know when it peaks,” he added.