COVID-19: Joburg mayor concerned with increasing traffic

City of Johannesburg mayor Geoff Makhubo has expressed concern over the number of vehicles that continue to roam the city’s roads, despite a national lockdown being in full effect.

Gauteng is the COVID-19 epicentre in South Africa, with close to half of the country’s reported cases occuring in the province.

Motorists continue to fill Joburg roads

Makhubo joined the metro police as they conducted a roadblock on the N1 highway on Friday, and noted the traffic that continues to flow in spite of the strict measures put in place by government to reduce the spread of the deadly virus.

We have now moved to the second location near Soweto, for the JMPD stop and verify roadblock aimed at checking the compliance of Motorists with the regulations pronounced with the National State of Disaster. #Covid19SA #Covid_19 pic.twitter.com/qmux6zm5gY

— Geoff Makhubo (@GeoffMakhubo) April 3, 2020

“We are concerned about the number of cars we are seeing on the roads, even though people are showing us their permits and they look like valid permits,” he said.

“Some are going to banks. Some are going to their businesses, but they don’t seem like they are essential services. I think the permits are being abused. They are not being used for the necessary essential services for which they are meant to use. I urge every single person to stay at home and go out only to perform essential services.

“It worries us that COVID-19 might be driving on the highway and being spread throughout.”

Geoff Makhubo

Gauteng faces gruelling fight

South Africa has recorded 1 462 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with five deaths reported.

Gauteng is the country’s hardest-hit province with 663 cases and one death. This is after 18 more people who tested for the novel coronavirus returned positive results in the province on Thursday.

According to Gauteng health MEC Dr. Bandile Masuku, the majority of the province’s population is expected to contract the virus, but will only five percent of those infected expected to need intensive medical care.

Several sites around the province have been identified as possible quarantine site, with one of them being Nasrec, which can host up to 100 000 people.