{"id":479689,"date":"2021-03-30T14:47:33","date_gmt":"2021-03-30T12:47:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=479689"},"modified":"2021-03-30T15:45:22","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T13:45:22","slug":"ramaphosa-to-address-the-nation-on-tuesday-ahead-of-expected-easter-lockdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/trending\/479689\/ramaphosa-to-address-the-nation-on-tuesday-ahead-of-expected-easter-lockdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Ramaphosa to address the nation on Tuesday ahead of expected Easter lockdown"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation at 19h30 on Tuesday (30 March) to discuss on developments in relation to the country\u2019s response to the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>The address follows meetings in recent days of the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC), the President\u2019s Coordinating Council (PCC), and cabinet.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;As South Africa rolls out its national Covid-19 vaccination programme, government and social partners are continuously monitoring infection, treatment and patient recovery rates, as well as compliance with health regulations and other prevention measures,&#8221; the presidency said.<\/p>\n<p>The president\u2019s address will be broadcast and streamed on a range of platforms that are accessible to South Africans and international audiences.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">President <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CyrilRamaphosa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CyrilRamaphosa<\/a> will address the nation at 19h30 today, to allow SABC viewers to watch veteran newsreader <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NoxoloGrootboom?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NoxoloGrootboom<\/a>\u2019s final bulletin as she retires after 37 years. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/oH8AY5Yznx\">https:\/\/t.co\/oH8AY5Yznx<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Presidency | South Africa \ud83c\uddff\ud83c\udde6 (@PresidencyZA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PresidencyZA\/status\/1376892592491790336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 30, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\nBecause the third wave of Covid-19 exists only as a threat for now \u2013 with new infections and active cases still low \u2013 members of the NCCC have <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/479037\/ramaphosa-expected-to-announce-easter-lockdown-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reportedly<\/a> <\/strong>been pushing back against any proposed restrictions that may disrupt their portfolios.<\/p>\n<p>The lockdown restrictions being considered include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Adjusting curfew \u2013 extending it from either 22h00 or 23h00 to 04h00;<\/li>\n<li>Restricting alcohol trade \u2013 from Monday to Thursday, 10h00 to 18h00;<\/li>\n<li>Limiting gatherings to 50 people.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The alcohol industry has warned against any restrictions on the sale of alcohol, arguing that measures should only be considered if there is pressure on hospitals.<\/p>\n<p>Health experts have warned about the threat of a third wave of infections in South Africa since the country went into eased lockdown level 1 in February, projecting that a swell in infections should become evident as the country approaches winter.<\/p>\n<p>While the typical modelling points to a May\/June start for a third wave, super-spreader events as a result of Easter celebrations threaten to bring that forward, with some models showing the wave as early as April.<\/p>\n<p>While small cluster outbreaks are being recorded, the national Covid-19 infection data is not yet showing a sharp turn.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/479591\/premier-warns-against-level-2-lockdown-for-south-africa-over-easter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Premier warns against level 2 lockdown for South Africa over Easter<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation at 19h00 on Tuesday (30 March) to discuss on developments in relation to the country\u2019s response to the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":470692,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-479689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479689"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":479743,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479689\/revisions\/479743"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}