All public events in the George and Kannaland municipalities along the Garden Route have been cancelled due to a sharp rise in COVID-19 infections.
Sports facilities, venues and town halls are closed until further notice.
‘The Garden Route is seeing increases in Covid-19 infections. In addition, there is an expectation of large numbers of visitors over the next few weeks which further increases the risk. This requires drastic action — which we are not afraid to take,’ environmental affairs and development planning minister Anton Bredell said on Tuesday, December 2 to TimesLive.
Bishops Cove on the Garden Route.
Bredell further encouraged residents to comply with all safety measures, adding that authorities are on high alert. ‘The provincial disaster centre and our stakeholders will continue to enforce existing disaster management regulations across the province with roadblocks, blitzes and unannounced visits to high risk areas to ensure compliance over the holiday season. Our partners include national SAPS, municipal law enforcement, the departments of labour and health, to name a few,’ he said.
Western Cape premier Alan Winde said in a statement that the increases in cases in the province must be ‘carefully monitored and managed’. However, he emphasised that local government does not support a lockdown being imposed on the province.
‘We believe that local, targeted interventions based in science and common sense will not only help to flatten the curve of infection, but will also protect businesses and the economy from the negative impact of a lockdown. We await further announcements from the President around potential interventions at a national level and in terms of the Disaster Management Act,’ Winde said.
The statistics for the Garden Route was as follows on December 2:
Bitou 1441 cases; 959 recoveries
Knysna 2827 cases; 1955 recoveries
6560 cases; 4730 recoveries
Hessequa 513 cases; 446 recoveries
Kannaland 180 cases; 148 recoveries
Mossel Bay 3653 cases; 2831 recoveries
Oudsthoorn 1938 cases; 1613 recoveries
Picture: Twitter/TsitsikammaTourism
