EASTERN CAPE - EC PREMIER SAYS COVID-19 "NIGHTMARE" ALMOST OVER IN THE PROVINCE

The Premier of the Eastern Cape, Oscar Mabuyane says the Covid-19 “nightmare” is nearly over in the province which was once heavily ravaged by the pandemic.

Mabuyane said some of the promising signs in their fight is the number of people recovering after been infected with the virus and the decline in the number of daily infections as seen in daily Covid-19 statistics.

The province was once the second most affected after the Western Cape. Its cases were believed to have been a result of the large migrant workers population that came back from Gauteng and the Western Cape when the country was first placed on hard lockdown in March this year.

Giving an update about the virus and ways to contain it on Tuesday in Bhisho in the Eastern Cape, Mabuyane was adamant that the latest figures were painting a promising picture. He said they may win the battle even before the anticipated victory period.

“We are observing a positive decline in our province... 77 000 people have defeated the virus, that means our recovery rate is now at 93.9 per cent, a phenomenal rise from the 52 per cent we were at on the 1st of July. We also see a consistent decrease in the number of new cases per day which is still below thousand.

“For instance, yesterday we only had about 777 new cases, this has been the case for some time now even when testing was done at a larger scale… We now have 2773 active cases in the Eastern Cape. From these numbers we can deduce that the end of our nightmare might be closer than we anticipated,” he said.

However, Mabuyane expressed concerns that the number of health workers who are infected by the virus was on the rise. He said more than 5000 of them have been infected so far.

He also used the briefing to assure the public that they are working on fixing the challenges faced by the health system in the province. Some of the challenges have even made global headlines after years of hogging local headlines.

“Indeed work was being done to fix the challenges that were being reported… So work is being done on the ground to really attend and really and attend this chronic that is historic that is systemic in our system,” he said.

Other than that, Mabuyane announced that himself, his cabinet, heads of departments and senior supply chain management officers would undergo lifestyle audits in order to dispel allegations of corruption within his administration.

Other ways Mabuyane announced to fight corruption and ensure transparency in how tenders are awarded, they have published the list of all the companies that were awarded the R1.1 billion Covid-19 related tenders. He said most of the companies were from the province.

via - IOL