The Health and Other Services Personnel Trade Union of South Africa (Hospersa) has warned that the government’s ‘reckless’ decision to allow taxis to operate at 100% capacity ‘has all but killed our fighting chance against Covid-19’.
Hospersa general secretary Noel Desfontaines said in a statement: ‘This decision will increase the risk of transmission among the many health workers who use public transport to commute to work and thereby putg the health sector on the brink of collapse as more staff members will need to self-quarantine.’
This followed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement on Sunday that taxi operators could operate at 100% capacity for short distances and 70% capacity for long-distance travel.
Earlier in the week, the Daily Maverick reported that the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA) had appealed to Ramaphosa and the Cabinet to review the decision.
The CMSA said the new relaxed regulations could ‘substantially increase the risk of transmission of Covid-19’, and that reduced capacity and more ventilation were critical in reducing transmission.
Hospersa said: ‘Giving the green light to taxi operators to load full capacity is all but a death nail (sic) to this fight against this deadly virus and for those that make use of this form of public transport.’
According to a Mail&Guardian report, Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula said the department had consulted its Medical Advisory Council, which had opposed the 100% ruling and argued instead for a 40% capacity limit. Mbalula said the latter percentage would cause the taxi industry to ‘perish’.
Taxi body Santaco welcomed the move to 100% capacity but said it wanted further consultations with the government on the conditions, which relate to ventilation and other health protocols.
Positive cases in South Africa rose by 13 373 to a cumulative total of 337 594 (with 178 183 recoveries). Deaths rose by 135 to 4 804. (The latest fatality figures were not broken down by province in last night’s figures).
Gauteng continues to record the highest infections (123 408), followed by the Western Cape (84 254), the Eastern Cape (58 860) and KwaZulu-Natal (37 722).
There have been 13.8 million infections globally, with 589 000 deaths.