Getting ready for Covid-19 peak in the winter season

The South African Local Government Association (Salga) says municipalities are gearing up for the Covid-19 peak in winter.

There are fears that the cold weather over the next few months could lead to increased infections of the virus.

The association's spokesperson, Buhle Ngwenya, said all metro and district municipalities have been preparing for an expected spread of the virus.

Ngwenya said the country's eight metro municipalities have prepared 52 quarantine sites containing 11,873 beds.

She said the National Health Laboratory Service had dispatched 67 mobile testing units to municipalities across the country.

Municipal health workers were also teaming up with their counterparts from the provinces to screen residents within their communities.

Ngwenya said Salga had urged municipalities to ensure "prudent" spending of the R20bn emergency government funding allocated to the councils.

"Salga advocates for the prudent use of financial resources deployed to the sector and this extends to the R20bn announced by the president as part of the economic stimulus relief package for the country as it fights against the coronavirus," said Ngwenya.

"This additional funding will augment the funding of other interventions that are already in place for local government's response to Covid-19 such as emergency services and community policing, sanitising of public spaces, provision of personal protective equipment.

"It will also be allocated to infrastructure services such as water, sanitation, de-densification plans, and shelter for the homeless, quarantine sites and public transport services."