Geoff Makhubo unveils the land which will be used to house residents relocated from Covid-19 hotspots around Johannesburg.
- Johannesburg mayor Geoff Makhubo does not believe another hard lockdown is a solution.
- Hospitals in Gauteng are filling up, however, this was mainly due to trauma cases.
- Makhubo said many Johannesburg residents were not practicing physical distancing or mask wearing.
As Gauteng’s Covid-19 cases spike, Johannesburg executive mayor, Geoff Makhubo, says hard lockdown will not be a solution, however, certain regulations should be looked at to curb the spread of the virus.
Makhubo was speaking in Marlboro during the unveiling of land which will be used to temporarily house residents from Covid-19 hotspots in Johannesburg.
“We are seeing a spike in numbers, in the last week we’ve had 3 000 additional infections in the province, a majority have been in Johannesburg.
Hospitals
“The infection rate is growing; the active cases are high, and we are worried about the capacity in our hospitals.
“But we think we have got enough beds, we’ve got enough quarantine sites that can withstand the pressure we will face in July and August,” he said.
#Covid19SA As cases spike in Gauteng, especially Johannesburg, Makhubo says he doesn’t feel hard lockdown is the solution, however, he feels there needs to be some form of regulation, including alcohol which “can be looked at”. @TeamNews24 pic.twitter.com/XNwSVsZ7wZ
— Azarrah Karrim (@azarrahk) July 3, 2020
While Johannesburg hospitals reach maximum capacity during the province’s peak, Makhubo said it was mainly alcohol-related accidents filling up the hospitals.
“What is happening in our hospitals… it’s other incidents other than Covid – it’s incidents of trauma, stabbings, car accidents which are increasing in our hospitals.
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“Remember during the lockdown this was almost down to zero, now they are back and part of the cause is alcohol – it’s a big, big contributor,” he said.
Makhubo added that it was possible for alcohol restrictions to be revisited.
“The alcohol economy is like any other economy – the restrictions, the times it can be sold, the times that people are in the streets consuming alcohol – that can be looked at.
“The idea was to buy and drink at home, but people still drink [in public] and drive around and cause accidents on the road.”
However, Makhubo said he did not believe a hard lockdown was the solution.
Makhubo said:
We have to balance the economy – the capacity of the state to deliver when the economy is [under] distress – and saving lives. “We prefer saving lives first, but at the same time how do you balance this with the economy?
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He added that people were not practicing physical distancing or mask wearing – vital to curbing the spread of the virus.
“They don’t do the basics, and we think that with those basic being done and being adhered to we shouldn’t be seeing what we are seeing now,” Makhubo said.
“For me, we will have to balance the two and I don’t see a hard lockdown being a complete solution but some form of lockdown – localised, curfew at night – I think those will [be] solutions for what we are seeing today.”
