‘It’s a worry’: Minister explains why Cape Town is likely to stay at Level 4

Trade minister Ebrahim Patel has hinted that Cape Town won’t be moving out of the Level 4 lockdown with the rest of the country at the end of the month, as the city remains an ‘enormous outlier’ for COVID-19 cases.

Coronavirus deaths and cases in the Western Cape

The admission came during an interview on Sunday. Patel, who has already gained a bit of notoriety for the limits he’s imposed on retail items, hasn’t done his popularity much good in the Mother City here. But this isn’t about being liked – it is about doing the right thing, based on the data and information available.

Almost 60% of all recorded coronavirus cases and deaths have been logged in the Western Cape. Just under 900 of the 1 160 new patients recorded on Sunday were from this province, and a large majority of this cohort are based in Cape Town. The national plan is to leave Level 4 behind before May is over, but on current form, CPT is likely to be held back for at least two weeks.

Why Cape Town is likely to stay at Level 4 of lockdown

Patel has explained that, while the Western Cape is governed by the DA and the party is lobbying to get the lockdown lifted, the “comparative analysis” speaks for itself. The minister also raised concerns about the apparent existence of a “transmission flow” from the Western into the Eastern Cape:

“I’d like to emphasise that we must depoliticise the crisis. We have to put all our differences aside and work hard to contain the spread of coronavirus. We need less grandstanding. In terms of other provinces, we’ll be taking into account the feedback from each region, then Ramaphosa will make an announcement soon.”

“Cape Town is now an enormous outlier in terms of infections: We’ve done comparative analysis between all districts, and without question, this is a worry. There’s also a flow of transmission from the Western Cape to the Eastern Cape. The virus can still flare-up elsewhere: it could be Johannesburg or Durban next.”

Ebrahim Patel

Once the president has outlined the new approach, Patel revealed that the government would be doubling down on their efforts to see how they could possibly improve the containment of the virus in Cape Town. But for now, locals look set to remain under the regulations of Level 4.