In the address to the nation by the State President, Cyril Ramaphosa, last night he discussed the economic and social response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Amongst other interventions, he announced that central to the economic recovery strategy will be a substantial infrastructure build programme which is positive news for the construction industry.
He further announced an extraordinary coronavirus budget - of around R500 billion - to direct resources towards fighting the pandemic as well other measures for the relief of hunger and social distress in our communities across the country.
Paramount to our safe re-entry into the world post lockdown is preparedness and as the Executive Team of the MBAWC, we are working on a strategy to ensure that all parties are fully briefed in terms of guidelines for health and safety.
Part of the input to this are the results of the survey which we sent out recently - click HERE for the high level results thereof.
We will share further information with you in due course and further urge you to participate in another survey which we will be sending out in the next few days.
Wearing a mask when in public places, especially crowded places, can help slow the spread of Covid-19. Even when wearing a mask, hand-washing and social distancing remain the most important interventions to reduce the spread of Covid-19.
Cloth masksare easy and not expensive to make, reusable and help reduce the transmission of COVID-19 by acting like a shield to contain the respiratory droplets through which the virus spreads.
The purpose of the mask is to reduce droplets that come out of the mouth or nose during speaking, coughing and sneezing.
Avoid touching the mask or your face while you're out and when you get back home,wash the maskwith soap and water immediately WITHOUT USING CHEMICALS and wash your hands again.
After washing, the masks should then be ironed or left out in the sun to dry.
You should not share your mask with anybody else, and it is preferable if every person has two masks so they can be interchanged during washes.
Remember not to handle the inside layer of the mask when taking it off or putting it on.
The public should not wear medical masks - these are reserved as personal protective equipment for our healthcare workers who are on the front line of our battle against COVID-19.
Our healthcare workers need medical-grade masks and respirators to stay healthy so they can save the lives of people who have COVID-19. Let us give them the tools to fight that battle.
The COVID-19 lockdown has left many people in our communities (and indeed within our membership) destitute as they struggle to put food on their tables due to unemployment and/or lack of work. The MBAWC would like to appeal to all those who are in the fortunate position where they either have work or are able to provide for themselves to make an effort to contribute to the various relief funds which have been created to assist those in need.
Below is a link to an article which appeared in the digital platform of the lifestyle magazine, Wanted, where they have listed a number of these charities - some of which you can donate to via Snapscan as well as other electronic means.
There are, however, many, many needy causes - it's just about contributing - even a little goes a long way.
An economic crisis is beginning to bite in South Africa, resulting from the decision to shut down a large chunk of the economy in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. South Africa locked down its economy for three weeks in March, but later extended this for another two weeks.
The government has announced a number of measures to cushion the impact, to which it has added
temporary increases to social grants, and a special grant for the unemployed who are not receiving any other grant or income.
Below is a link to an article which appeared in the digital platform of the lifestyle magazine, Wanted, where they have listed a num
