Premier Alan Winde update on Coronavirus COVID-19 on 26 November

Update on the coronavirus by Premier Alan Winde

As of 1pm on 26 November, the Western Cape has 7792 active Covid-19 infections with a total of 127 403 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 115 017 recoveries.

Cape Metro Sub-districts:

Sub-districts:

Unallocated: 2372 (2046 recovered) 

Data note: It is not always possible to check and verify that the address data supplied for each new recorded case is correct, within the time frames required to provide regular and timely updates. This means that in some instances, cases could be allocated to the wrong sub-districts. We are working with the sub-districts to clean and verify the data and where errors are picked up locally, cases will be re-allocated to the correct areas.  

The Western Cape has recorded additional 21 deaths, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the province to 4594. We send our condolences to their loved ones at this time. 

The Western Cape’s MTBPS

Today, Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, David Maynier tabled the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement for the Western Cape, which details the adjustments we have made to the provincial budget to finance our recovery plan.

Last month, I outlined the three priorities for this government's recovery plan- jobs, safety and dignity and wellbeing, as well as some of the difficult decisions we face as a government in the current fiscal climate. Despite our provincial budgets and a number of key grants being cut, the Provincial Treasury has created a R1.4 billion support package to fund these key priorities and to ensure that we are able to deliver on our commitments in these areas, while continuing to deliver on our core mandates.

In our second adjustments budget, we have allocated an additional R1.152 billion to jobs, R80.5 million to safety and R172.2 million to wellbeing. These allocations include:

Jobs:

• R155 million which will support small businesses by accelerating basic maintenance and repair of infrastructure at schools in the Western Cape.
• R12 million to support small businesses (in addition to the R27 million already allocated earlier this year).
• R8,5 million to support small businesses in the wine industry (in addition to the R12 million already allocated for wine tourism support by the Department of Agriculture).

Safety:

• R35 million has been allocated to school fencing to keep children safe while at school.
• R20 million has been allocated for the training and employment of 1000 safety ambassadors.
• R2 million has been allocated for the resourcing of 120 peace officers in our district municipalities.
• R15 million has been allocated towards the development of a hospital and emergency centre information system which will allow us to share data about crime, accidents and trauma between health and law enforcement and local government in line with the Cardiff Model which is being led by the Departments of Health and Community Safety in the province.
• R 5 million has been allocated towards a data centre which will enable our data-led and evidence driven approach to the safety plan.

Dignity and wellbeing:

• We have allocated R4 million to appoint young people to support the development of literacy and numeracy at early childhood development centres in the Western Cape.

We have also received national government funding to support “Jobs”, “Safety” and “Wellbeing” in the Western Cape which will be used to:

• employ education assistants and general assistants at schools (R814.2 million allocated).
• R53 million to supplement the salaries of employees at early childhood development centres.
• R51.2 million to provide food relief to people who are hungry.

We have already started the hard work on our recovery but this budget firmly puts our money where our mouth is. All three of these priorities form part of our Cabinet reporting structure, where we monitor and track implementation in weekly joint meetings which include our district municipalities and the City of Cape Town, as well as other key partners such as SAPS.

In order to truly make a success of our recovery and to promote new growth, we must minimise the impact of Covid-19 on our economy, on our healthcare system and on our residents.

The budget announced today will continue to fund our world class Covid-19 response, but we must also balance this with our need to move forward.

Making safer choices:

We must set our sights on growing investments which create jobs, making our communities safer and ensuring the diginity and wellbeing of citizens but we must not let our guards down. We have seen  over the past few weeks how community transmission has once again become established in the Western Cape, leading to a resurgence.

The steep increase in the number of people being hospitalised with the virus is most concerning to us.

Now is the time for us all to work together, as we did before, to flatten the curve of this virus. With the festive season approaching, we have the opportunity to support businesses in our communities and in our province but we mustalwaysdo so with safety at the top of mind.In doing so, we need to do things differently by always making smarter choices.

I therefore reiterate my call for retailers and customers to practice extreme caution during Black Friday sales tomorrow and over the weekend.

I also call on residents to start planning ways in which they intend to make their festive season safer this year. We should all be looking at ways to ensure that we are following the golden rules of hygiene, while also avoiding the 3 Cs of close contact, closed spaces and crowded places. This will mean planning smaller gatherings, ensuring we wear masks at all times, and prioritising outside activities where there is good ventilation.

If you cannot abide by 3Cs or the Golden rules at an engagement, you should postpone it for the safety of yourself and the others around you.