Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde says he will argue that the National State of Disaster should expire in February when he meets with the President’s Coordinating Council (PCC) on Monday, 31 January.
The Presidency has scheduled a PCC meeting for the nine Premiers in South Africa. According to Winde, the Western Cape has now officially exited the fourth wave, with evidence clearly pointing to the countries entering an endemic stage.
“Our COVID-19 related hospitalisations and deaths remain low, despite the much higher number of cases recorded during the fourth wave.
“That is why we need to normalise our COVID-19 response, through existing health legislation, and focus our efforts on tackling unemployment in South Africa,” Winde said.
The Premier further mentioned that he will also specifically call for the scrapping of the 1-metre rule at schools, so as to enable an end to rotational learning.
“If we do not scrap the one-metre rule for schools, specifically, we would be preventing a return to full-time schooling for our children. This undoubtedly would hurt our poorest communities the most, giving effect to a generational catastrophe,” Winde indicated.
The Western Cape’s Education MEC Debbie Schäfer has also now urged the National Department to scrap the one-metre social distancing rule in primary school classrooms.
According to Schäfer, the Western Cape Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been evidence-based and data-led from the very beginning.
“As early as July last year, there was a strongly worded Medical Advisory Committee recommendation setting out the devastating impact of rotational schooling and urging that at least primary schools should go back full time, regardless of the distancing requirement,” Schäfer said.
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Picture: Cape {town} Etc gallery