Bitou shows Covid-19 decrease

PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - Bitou's community Covid-19 awareness and compliance campaign might be paying off with the number of active cases on the decrease in recent weeks.

Bitou municipal spokesman Andile Namntu said they were proud of the efforts of all local residents playing their part in fighting the impact of Covid-19.

"The fact that Bitou was declared a hotspot over the festive season and the Level 3 lockdown regulations posed their own compliance challenges. Monitoring and enforcement efforts had to be increased," Namntu said.

"However, the Bitou multi-disciplinary operations team led by disaster officer for the Garden Route District Municipality, Lee Anne Joubert, did an impressive job over this period. The team consists of Bitou law enforcement, police, Bitou communications and public participation and other interest groups from the community."

The Bitou multi-disciplinary operations team has been checking Covid-19 compliance.

Namntu explained that the team ran weekly Covid-19 awareness and compliance operations in all communities within the Bitou Municipality.

"This team was so committed that they undertook these operations on Christmas and New Year's Day. Others even had to sacrifice their birthdays in order to achieve the goal of flattening the curve."

Operations included visiting spaza shops, taverns, pubs and restaurants as well as businesses and churches to monitor compliance. Churches, funerals, taxi ranks and other places where people gather were also visited to make sure that people adhere to regulations.

"The efforts of this team made a massive contribution as the number of Covid-19 infections in Bitou dropped significantly over the past two weeks," Namntu said. "However, efforts of this team could only be effective if residents become more responsible and comply with protocols and regulations."

The Bitou multi-disciplinary operations team has sacrificed Christmas and New Year's Day to check on Covid-19 compliance.