MOSSEL BAY NEWS - "The holiday season was a success. People abided by Covid-19 regulations mostly.

"The fact that the peak of 5 000 active Covid-19 cases during the 'second wave' has been reduced to 3 000 now is evidence of this success."

This was according to Garden Route District Municipality disaster management head Gerhard Otto, interviewed on Wednesday, 13 January.

Otto said the peak of exactly 4 995 active Covid-19 cases took place from 14 to 19 December in the Garden Route region.

He noted: "There were instances where law enforcement officers had to speak to people, but people co-operated when spoken to. People were towing the line."

Foot traffic
There was hope that the beach ban might drive people to the shopping malls. News from mall managers is that foot traffic during the festive season was less than last year.

Centre manager of the Langeberg Mall in Voorbaai, Kobus Bernardo, said: "Foot traffic was 10% less than last festive season. Speaking to patrons, visitors and people who come to Mossel Bay regularly, it is clear there was no money for luxuries, just basics and food.

"People were not flash and did not have money to spend."

Bernardo said uncertainty about the future make people cautious about spending money. "Retail figures at the mall are down by 10,37% from 2019."

"The impact of not being able to sell alcohol was negative for restaurants."

'Better than expected'
The general manager of Mosselbaai Mall in Heiderand, Jaco Karg, said: "In terms of foot traffic and customer sales, the centre performed marginally better than anticipated. There was a clear decrease in customer traffic, continuing the trend since the implementation of the various protocols towards the end of March 2020."

Karg said the negative impact was not felt as much by Checkers, the anchor tenant at the mall, compared to the smaller tenants. This was mostly because it provided necessities in terms of groceries.

What was noteworthy, Karg said, was that: "Although foot traffic was down considerably from last year, total sales, even though reduced, decreased to a much lessor extent. The conclusion is that even though customers did not visit the shopping centre as often as before and there were not as many visitors as previous years, the money spent per visit was proportionally higher, about 18% more. Restaurants were impacted the most negatively as far as sales were concerned, when compared to December 2019."

Money spinner
One money spinner in Mossel Bay which appeared to be doing a roaring trade was the Zipline at the Point, which offers the longest oversea ride in the world, with a spectacular view. One of the directors of the Zipline Company, Albert Wiffen, said: "This was the first festive season for the Zipline [which opened for business during 2020], so we don't have anything to measure it against. The Zipline was busy," Wiffen agreed, however: "We expected more Zipline customers, but we were satisfied."

Wiffen also owns hotels and a number of restaurants in town. He said accommodation and restaurant trade had reduced by 30% compared with previous years. "Numbers of people in town were fewer than previous years."

Hospitals in Mossel Bay remained under pressure during the festive season, dealing with Covid-19 cases.

Casualty
However, it appears the ban on alcohol sales, instituted after Christmas, resulted in fewer patients at casualty.

On behalf of Mossel Bay's Life Bay View Private Hospital, Riaan Croucamp, manager: Life Healthcare Coast West region, said this week: "Activities were lower than what is the norm for December in the emergency unit and the non-Covid units.

"Due to the pressure placed on the hospital - particularly on ICU capacity - elective surgeries were cancelled and only emergency surgery was performed from 21 December to 8 January.

"Covid activities were very high with certain days running at full capacity, both with beds and equipment, but due to the fluidity of Covid overall, the situation changed literally by the hour.

"The hospital management team was in constant contact with the other private and state hospitals in the area, and worked closely to accommodate patients between the hospitals if one or more did not have capacity."

'Extreme pressure'
Croucamp said: "We thank our doctors and employees who worked tirelessly in the Covid units. Their work was performed under extreme pressure and we commend them for their dedication during the past few weeks."

He noted: "Covid activities currently remain pressurised and bed capacity is fluid. There remains a high demand for ICU beds, ventilators and other equipment. We urge the community to assist our healthcare workers by acting responsibly and following all Covid-19 policies and protocols."

Government health spokesperson Maret Lesch said: "As with all our Western Cape hospitals, Mossel Bay Hospital was under severe pressure with Covid-19 admissions.

"Over the last week of December and the first two weeks of January, we saw a significant decrease in trauma cases at the hospital's Emergency Unit.

"We extend a heartfelt thank you to our staff who worked over the festive season, especially staff involved with care, treatment and contact tracing of Covid-19 patients, as well as residents who adhered to lockdown regulations and helped to reduce the trauma load on Mossel Bay Hospital."

Although people could not go to beaches at the beginning of the holiday, there was still fun to be had on the water before the total ban of water-related activities was instituted. Photo: Grey Stopforth

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