Premier Alan Winde update on Coronavirus COVID-19

As of 00h01 on 11 April, the Western Cape recorded 567 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection.

We currently have 29 people in hospital who have tested positive for COVID-19, with 12 being cared for in ICU.

Sub Districts Cape Town Metro:

Sub Districts Non-Metro:

Unallocated: 4

The Western Cape is seeing increasing numbers of local transmissions. We are acting quickly to ensure that where they do occur, we are able to locate and quarantine contacts to stop further spread. Our community testing efforts will also help us in this regard. We however appeal to people to abide by the rules of the lockdown, and to keep up with regular handwashing and distancing measures to help us in these efforts.

Attempts to politicize humanitarian relief for our children shameful:

On Thursday, the Western Cape Government started the roll out of an emergency feeding scheme at schools, aimed at ensuring that children who relied on the school feeding scheme during term time, would be given a meal during this time. Communities are struggling under the pressure of this global pandemic- many of our residents do not have the ability to earn during the lockdown period and people are already going hungry. Over the past few days, we have fielded in excess of 10 000 calls through our various contact centres, from people desperate for food aid.

The fact that nearly 100 000 children arrived on the first day of feeding is testament to the massive and growing need for nutritional support and intervention. For many of these children, it is the only meal they will receive each day.

It is therefore mind boggling and quite frankly shameful that opposition parties, teacher unions and Cosatu in the province are calling for us to end this important humanitarian effort.

The feeding scheme at schools is being conducted with strict adult supervision, social distancing and hygiene protocols in place. Children bring their own container to collect their food if possible, and do not stay on the school premises to eat. We are also working closely with SAPS in the province to ensure that areas where feeding occurs, are patrolled.

The regulations allow for people to go out to buy food – it simply makes no sense to exclude hungry children from this basic human right.

The regulations also allow us to continue operating the various soup kitchens and feeding initiatives run by the Department of Social Development. The Department of Education in the province has stepped up to assist as the Department of Social Development does not have the capacity to deal with the increased need. The Department of Social Development will be working right throughout the long weekend to deliver food to the vulnerable, further highlighting the need for the Department of Education to continue feeding. 

The systems to feed children at schools were already in place, and have allowed us to respond quickly. The matter was deliberated extensively by the full cabinet, including measures on how to ensure that it was conducted safely, before the decision to go ahead with the feeding scheme was taken. We all agreed that we cannot allow our children's nutritional needs to go unmet.

Nutritional support is vital in building a strong immune system and ignoring hunger during this global pandemic will be at our peril.

The Coronavirus does not just require a medical response, but also a humanitarian one. As we head into an additional two weeks of lockdown, the need will only become greater. The emergency feeding scheme at schools is one of the ways we as the Western Cape Government are working to address this. We call on those criticizing the response to rather work with us to address the most pressing needs of our communities and citizens, and stop playing politics at this challenging time for our province and country.

This pandemic shows us just how vulnerable so many of our communities are. We must do everything possible to help them during this time. It also shows us that in addition to addressing coronavirus now, we must put equal effort into addressing measures to grow employment numbers and improve the standards of living across the country.