'It is simply not justifiable': Alan Winde urges Ramaphosa to ease lockdown

Easing measures will boost Western Cape economy and save lives, says premier

23 September 2021 - 12:30
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Western Cape premier Alan Winde is calling for an end to the national state of disaster. File photo.
Western Cape premier Alan Winde is calling for an end to the national state of disaster. File photo.
Image: Trevor Samson

Western Cape premier Alan Winde has called on the national government to move the province to lockdown alert level 1. 

Winde repeated his call for an end to the national state of disaster, saying it is unsustainable to “use this extreme tool forever”.

The eased measures will give the economy a much-needed boost and save lives and jobs in the province, said Winde.

“It is simply not justifiable to impose restrictions on the economy, especially at a time when we are facing a terrifying unemployment crisis, and when the data clearly demonstrates that our healthcare platform has more than adequate capacity to respond. These restrictions must therefore be relaxed as soon as possible.”

Winde cited a drop in the infection rate, hospitalisations, deaths, test positivity rate and oxygen usage among other indicators as reasons to ease the restrictions in the province.

“Currently, the seven-day moving average for new cases in the Western Cape is 620. We know that we will have officially exited the third wave, in terms of the technical definition, once new infections are at 15% of the peak or 530 cases.

“We are quickly approaching this number. All our other indicators also continue to show a significant decline, including in hospitalisations, deaths, our test positivity rate and oxygen usage,” he said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a decision to move SA to alert level 2 during a national address two weeks ago. He said the government will, after two weeks, review the current restrictions depending on the state of the pandemic. 

“He said 14 days after moving to level 2 we should be there. We're just about there. We need to move to level 1,” said Winde. 


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