Law enforcement agencies will be out in full force in Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality to ensure that all residents adhere to the new COVID-19 regulations which state that all beaches in the Eastern Cape will be closed from Wednesday, 16 December.
NMBM Executive Mayor Nqaba Bhanga said in an effort to save people’s lives, residents need to make a sacrifice and comply with the regulations as new statistics showed that in the last 24 hours a total of 15 people died due to COVID-19 in the City.
“During the COVID-19 Joint Operations Centre meeting today it was highlighted that we are still not out of the woods yet as we are seeing an alarming increase in the number of infections all over the country and as the City we remain a hotspot. The Department of Health has reported in today’s meeting that we have lost 15 lives in the last 24 hours.
“Six deaths were recorded in the private hospitals and nine deaths were recorded in the public hospitals. This clearly shows us that COVID-19 is still our reality and it continues to steal our friends and family members from us. A total of 105 patients are currently in the Intensive Care Units, with the private sector housing 87 patients and the public hospitals admitting 18 patients in ICU.
“We know the new regulations are difficult to everyone, but we are begging our residents to adhere as this will ensure that we all cross over to the new year in a healthy state,” the Mayor said.
NMB curfew not the same as national curfew
NMBM Disaster Management Chairperson, Shane Brown, said it was important to note that while non-hotspot areas were moved to a curfew that starts at 23:00, as a hotspot area, NMBM remained with the 22:00 to 04:00 curfew.
“Residents must not think our curfew now starts at 23:00. We are a hotspot and therefore our curfew starts at 22:00 and this will be enforced. All our beaches, parks and braai areas will be closed from Wednesday, drinking is still prohibited in public areas and all the law enforcement agencies that are part of the Joint Operations Centre will work together to ensure this massive, but necessary task is enforced.
Permit holders may go fishing
“Only residents with their fishing permits in their possession will be allowed on the beaches, but unfortunately the regulations states that all beaches are closed so we do not expect people to want to walk on the beach or have picnics on the sand. We need residents to comply as this is done for the wellbeing of everyone. We all know how overcrowded our beaches are on the public holidays, people are usually in the festive spirit and under COVID-19, we can’t afford to have such gatherings,” Brown said.
The new hotspots within the City include Bethelsdorp, Gelvandale, Walmer, KwaZakhele and Rosedale.
