CAPE TOWN - City of Cape Town Health Department reports a decrease in adherence to Covid-19 protocol in the city raising concerns of the second wave of infections.
As the South African economy begins recovery and the lockdown levels ease along with restrictions, the City of Cape Town Health Department fears many Capetonians are letting their guards down with reports of an increase in non-adherence to Covid-19 protocols with many taking to the public without masks or the lack of crowd management.
“Cape Town worked very hard to overcome the peak of the pandemic so that we could start focusing on rebuilding lives, communities and the economy,” said the City’s Mayco Member for Community Services and Health, Zahid Badroodien.
“All of this hard work will be undermined if we drop our collective guard. While the Covid-19 caseload and related fatalities have decreased significantly in the past month, we cannot change our behaviour. I hear far too many anecdotes about the pandemic being a thing of the past – this is not true, particularly if one looks at the many countries where lockdowns have had to be reintroduced as a result of a second wave of infections.”
Cape Town and South Africa need to pay attention to cautionary signs which point at the risk of a second wave of Covid-19 infections, according to Badroodien, despite a stable infection rate, admissions and fatalities within the city with a positivity rate remaining below 10 percent.
“We are monitoring these indicators very closely for any signs of additional waves of infection,” he added. “We, therefore, urge the public to continue abiding by the health and hygiene protocols and to wear a mask at all times in public, to help avoid a second wave of infections locally, or at the very least mitigate the impact thereof.”
Badroodien, urging the public not to lose focus and to continue to practise all hygienic prevention measures as well as social distancing.
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