Provincial government prepares for possible lockdown extension
Written by Lethiwe Mdluli on 9 April, 2020
The provincial government says it has already started preparations for a possible extension of the national lock down especially for learners who may miss weeks of classroom lessons.
Premier, Sihle Zikalala, has told a media briefing in Durban that media platforms are playing a supporting role for basic education, adding that KZN will be ramping up these existing platforms to ensure learners continue to receive an education.
He says should the lock down end, he doesn’t foresee the province’s education sector having any substantive holidays.
” We must indicate that the department is consulting but we dont foresee the province having any substantive holidays should we start after this lock down. From June I think education will be working in full force and during the September as well. The MEC is finalizing modalities on that recovery and it is a plan that is going to be very intense.”
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Meanwhile Health MEC, Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu, says the department has overcome the overcrowding of health facilities in the province.
She says the only challenge the department is facing is homeless people flooding hospitals due to withdrawal symptoms as the result of not being able to access drugs.
” Plans are in place on what happens when one facility is inundated with numbers and we are able to share within the different facilities that we have in eThekwini. Patients should not be turned away because all facilities are expected to continue treating our patients. Just because we are dealing with COVID-19 right now doesn’t mean any of our other illnesses have gone away, they are still there. So facilities are expected to do that and they are doing it. There is very few hospitals that we have decided that they will just deal with the COVID-19.”
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By: Zilungile Mkhize & Sthulile Mdletshe
