- Alan Winde is in support of a differentiated Covid-19 approach for each province.
- Winde said it is essential that a balance is achieved between saving lives and livelihoods.
- Cyril Ramaphosa met the NCCC on Tuesday to discuss possible tighter restrictions.
Covid-19 infections in the country are on the rise, but the Western Cape government plans to argue for restrictions to be adapted to the situation in each province.
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, along with the other eight premiers, are expected to meet with President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday afternoon, as part of the President's Coordinating Council (PCC), to discuss additional measures to curb the rise in infections.
Winde told News24 that, considering the province's own Covid-19 trajectory, he would support a differentiated approach.
"I will be arguing for the application of a differentiated approach, whereby alert level restrictions are considered for each province separately - depending on their own Covid-19 curve and trajectory - and with due consideration for the measures that they have put in place to slow the spread, including the readiness of each province's healthcare system to respond to an increased demand."
Winde said it is essential that a balance is achieved between saving lives and livelihoods, "especially because it is our poorest residents who will suffer the most from job losses".
Winde, however, indicated that he would not be supporting a ban on alcohol.
"The Western Cape will not support a ban on alcohol, if it is raised during the PCC on Tuesday, given the job losses this will cause in our province, in particular. This will hurt our poorest residents the most.
"At this stage, our hospitals still can respond to Covid-19 admissions, and we have adequate capacity prepared for a third wave."
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Winde also said he will argue that vaccine registration be opened even more.
He said:
The Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) has been calling for tighter restrictions and have pleaded with the government to move the country to lockdown Level 3.
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On Tuesday, Ramaphosa met with the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) to discuss the rise in infections - and he will address the nation at 20:00 on Tuesday evening.
The province's head of health, Dr Keith Cloete, is calling for stricter restrictions to be implemented.
"As infections are increasing rapidly, we are calling for stricter adherence to limiting the number of gatherings and the number of people in gatherings. However, we are not advocating for an alcohol ban at this stage, as the hospital capacity is not yet under severe pressure."
He said they had noticed an increase in admissions in both the public and private sector.
"That is why we need to curb transmission, for the pressure on hospitals to be minimised over the coming weeks."