South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has extended a national lockdown by two weeks until the end of April, to tackle the spread of Covid-19 coronavirus.<\/p>\n
It comes as the the number of confirmed cases in the country stands at 1,934, with 18 confirmed deaths.<\/p>\n
“Since the lockdown came into effect, the rate at which new cases have been identified here in South Africa has slowed significantly, the president said in his address to the nation on Thursday evening (09 April),” said the president.<\/p>\n
In the two weeks before the lockdown, the average daily increase in new cases was around 42%. Since the start of the lockdown, the average daily increase has been around 4%, Ramaphosa said.<\/p>\n
“We are only at the beginning of a monumental struggle that demands our every resource and our every effort.<\/p>\n
“We cannot relax. We cannot be complacent.”<\/p>\n
The president said that in the coming weeks and months, “we must massively increase the extent of our response and expand the reach of our interventions”.<\/p>\n
Ramaphosa said that he did not take the decision to extend the lockdown lightly. “We will also use this time to ramp up our public health interventions.”<\/p>\n
“We are determined to pursue a path that both saves lives and protects livelihoods,” he said.<\/p>\n
3-part plan<\/strong><\/p>\n He said that the government’s strategy is made up of three parts:<\/p>\n The president said that the government has used the lockdown period to both refine and intensify its public health strategy.<\/p>\n “Our approach is to screen in communities and test people in hospitals, clinics and mobile clinics, to isolate those who are infected, and to care for those who are ill in our health facilities.”<\/p>\n The Department of Health has said that 398 public and private quarantine facilities have been identified, with 34,000 beds available for those who cannot be isolated at home.<\/span><\/p>\n “We have used the last week to develop our screening and testing methodology in various parts of the country, Ramaphosa said.<\/p>\n Over the next two weeks, the government will roll out the community screening and testing programme across all provinces, focusing in particular on highly vulnerable communities.<\/p>\n Those who test positive and cannot self-isolate at home will be isolated at special facilities that have been identified and are now being equipped, the president said.<\/p>\n Data centre<\/strong><\/p>\n The government has established a Covid-19 Information Centre at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research to keep track of all screening, testing, isolation and hospitalisation throughout the country.<\/p>\n It is already identifying infection hotspots, Ramaphosa said.<\/p>\n “It is following the spread and the severity of the disease, and enabling us to move our focus and resources where they are most needed,” the president said.<\/p>\n Business support<\/strong><\/p>\n As part of the second element of its strategy, the government has put in place various measures to provide support to businesses in distress, to workers facing loss of income, to the self-employed and to informal businesses, Ramaphosa said.<\/p>\n Some measures announced include:<\/p>\n Helping the most vulnerable<\/strong><\/p>\n As the third part of its coronavirus response, the government has been working to provide basic needs such as water and to maintain the reliability of food supply to the poorest.<\/p>\n “We have also expanded the provision of food parcels and we\u2019ve provided spaza shops with financial support,” the president said.<\/p>\n To date, government has delivered over 11,000 water storage tanks to communities in need across the country.<\/p>\n In addition, 1,000 water tankers have been provided for the delivery of water.<\/p>\n “I am pleased to report that the Solidarity Fund \u2013 which was established to mobilise resources from companies, organisations and individuals to combat the coronavirus pandemic \u2013 has so far raised around R2.2 billion.<\/p>\n “It has already allocated around R1 billion to buy sterile gloves, face shields, surgical masks, test kits and ventilators,” the president said.<\/p>\n Extraordinary measures<\/strong><\/p>\n Additional extraordinary measures will need to be put in place in the coming weeks and months to absorb the sudden loss of income to both businesses and individuals, Ramaphosa said.<\/p>\n Cabinet, he said, will develop a comprehensive package of urgent economic measures to respond both to the immediate crisis and to the economic challenges that lie ahead.<\/p>\n Further announcements on the next phase of the government’s economic and social support strategy will be made in due course, the president said.<\/p>\n “As we emerge from this crisis, our country will need to undergo a process of fundamental reconstruction.<\/p>\n “To do so, we will draw on our strengths: our abundant natural resources, our advanced infrastructure, our deep financial markets, our proven capabilities in information and communication technology, and the depth of talent among our people,” he said.<\/p>\n\n
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