THE MEC for Health, Sinegugu Simelane-Zulu is planning to meet with Rage Festival and other event organisers this week to discuss safety health protocols as cases of Covid-19 surge in the city.
Simelane-Zulu said they needed proper assurances and plans from the organisers that the events won’t be ‘superspreaders’.
“Some of them have proper plans, they are able to tell you that we will put speed fencing around every three people but it’s not all of them who do, that’s why we need to meet with them,” she said.
“The issue of events and programmes we have in the province it’s not a decision that could just be taken by the Department of Health because they are also an economic spring for the province; they bringing in money, employment and so forth.”
Simelane-Zulu said it will be up to the provincial Coronavirus Command Council, chaired by Premier Sihle Zikalala, to pronounce on any decisions regarding events.
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The Matric Rage festival, an annual event where thousands of matriculants from across the country descend into the coast for a week of fun, has raised fears of being potential superspreader events. Last month in Cape Town, a single event attended by matric students was the source of 89 new infections in the city.
Organisers of the rage festival have ensued that proper social distancing protocols are in place and they will be operating at 50 per cent capacity. Meanwhile, Covid-19 statistics released by Zikalala show that infections continue to increase in the province and Durban as the festive season continues.
The breakdown of confirmed cases for KZN:
Week 45: 765 cases
Week 46: 869 cases
Week 47: 1 134 cases
Week 48: 1 652 cases
Zikalala said eThekwini Metro continues to record the highest daily numbers of new infections and count for about half of the province’s confirmed cases (60 354).
She said there is a Provincial Resurgence Plan should the number of cases breach a certain threshold.
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting
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