BCM now has more than 3,000 confirmed cases of virus

Buffalo City Metro now has just over 3,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and the death toll stands at 45. Of the total, 1,688 have recovered and 1,300 cases remain active.

Metro spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said in terms of geographical spread, East London remained the area with the most cases followed by King William’s Town and Mdantsane.

“East London areas with confirmed cases include Abbottsford, Amalinda, Beacon Bay, Braelyn, Buffalo Flats, Duncan Village, Gonubie, Greenfields, Haven Hills, Nahoon, Needs Camp, Parkside, Selborne, Sunnyridge, Sunset Bay, Vincent and Westbank,” he said.

Ngwenya said Mdantsane areas with confirmed cases were Zones 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16 and 17; Fort Jackson and Mncotsho villages.

In King William’s Town and Bhisho, areas with confirmed cases were Dimbaza, Ginsberg, Mamata, Masingatha, Mantlaneni, Ndevana, Tshatshu and Zwelitsha.

“Special care must be exercised by people between 50-59 years and above, as this group is more at risk.

“As more businesses begin to operate under lockdown level 3, we call on all of them to exercise caution, ensure that staff and customers wear masks, that they screen everyone and enforce physical distance,” he said.

The municipality appealed to establishments selling alcohol to adhere to Disaster Management Act regulations.

People should “not compromise their safety and alert law enforcement authorities whenever there are transgressions”.

Ten days ago, BCM mayor Xola Pakati appeared before the portfolio committee on co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta), which is the custodian of the National Disaster Management Act.

Presenting the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality’s Covid-19 response plan to the committee, Pakati attributed the rising infection rate in the region to interaction between people of both the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces.

He also blamed the rise in cases at the East London prison, where inmates and staff members had tested positive.

“The people who die in the Western Cape are buried here in the Eastern and another source of the problem is the East London Correctional Centre,” Pakati told the committee via a virtual meeting.

Pakati said there were 154 overcrowded and poverty-stricken informal settlements and villages administered by the metro.

He said the metro had suspended its credit policy to ensure those unable to pay for municipal services were not denied services on the grounds of non-payment during the pandemic.

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