Budget to beat Covid tabled

Writer: De Waal Steyn.

The Covid-19 pandemic has become a double-edged sword with tough decisions needing to be taken between saving lives and saving livelihoods.

While the national infection numbers over the past week have climbed steadily, with between 13 900 and 11 200 new cases recorded daily, in the Western Cape new infections rose by between 550 and 1 500 cases daily over the corresponding period.

But, according to figures released by the Western Cape, of the more than 91 100 cases reported thus far, only about 12 600 are active cases. By Monday 2 897 people in the province had succumbed to the illness. A total of 1 062 recoveries had been reported out of the 1 334 cases in the Overstrand.

The fight against the pandemic in the province, which at one time accounted for more than 70% of all reported cases in the country but now stands at 20%, was bolstered last week with the presentation of the province’s special adjustment budget tabled by David Maynier, Western Cape Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities.

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