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PAIA application submitted for daily Eastern Cape coronavirus statistics

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Dear MyPE

The Democratic Alliance has submitted a Public Access to Information Act (PAIA) Application to the Eastern Cape Department of Health, requesting daily statistics relating to the spread of Covid-19 be provided.

On Monday the DA highlighted the lack of transparency and lack of reliable screening, testing, track and trace and other data being made available. Communication of statistics is irregular and inconsistent, which hampers planning an effective response.

The DA in the Eastern Cape has repeatedly called on the Premier and the MEC of Health to provide accurate daily data, to no avail, and as such, we have had to submit the PAIA application to the Superintendent General of the Department of Health, Dr Thobile Mbengashe.

We have requested that detailed statistics on screening, testing, patient numbers, ICU numbers, recoveries and deaths be released, per sub district or municipality, on a daily basis. This information is crucial in the fight against the transmission of the disease for several reasons:

Firstly, transparency is indicative of accountability, and it empowers citizens to make more responsible choices regarding their behaviour and their daily movements. Furthermore, it builds up a relationship of trust between government and communities, which is sorely lacking in the province at the moment.

Most importantly however, is that consistent and accurate data plays a vital role in informing an effective and focussed response to outbreaks, particularly when cluster transmissions occur.

A data dashboard, such as the one utilised in the Western Cape, is a tremendous tool which operates in real time to show the very latest trends in the spread of the virus. (See https://coronavirus.westerncape.gov.za/covid-19-dashboard).

This allows medical teams to devise the most effective and targeted strategies to screen, test and treat patients with Covid-19. A targeted approach is ultimately the only way to flatten the curve.

In the words of Professor Salim Abdool Karim, a leading South African epidemiologist and advisor to the government Covid-19 Command Centre, we should be able to put out the Covid-19 bushfires before they become raging infernos.

Finding these bushfires can only be achieved with updated and accurate data.

Regards

Jane Cowley, MPL
DA Eastern Cape Shadow MEC for Health

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