GCIS
President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced tougher measures, including an immediate ban on the sale of alcohol and a curfew, as the number of confirmed Covid19 infections surpassed 272 000 cases.
Addressing the nation on Sunday night, he said that South Africa was recording over 12 000 cases every day, with over 4 079 deaths recorded. The number of confirmed cases stood at 276 242, with thousands of recoveries.
“A quarter of those who died passed away in the last week,” Ramaphosa said.
The President once again appealed to the public to adhere to the regulations that require that people wear masks in public, maintain social distancing and good hygiene.
“Irresponsible behavior will cost lives,” he warned.
The President said that the surge in infections has arrived. “The storm is upon us.”
He said that Cabinet had also decided to impose a curfew between 9 pm and 4 am from Monday, while family visits will not be allowed.
The National State of Disaster has also been extended to 15 August while the country will remain at Alert Level 3.
In announcing the immediate ban on the sale of alcohol, Ramaphosa said there was now clear evidence that the resumption of alcohol sales has resulted in substantial pressure being put on hospitals, including trauma and ICU units, due to motor vehicle accidents, violence, and related trauma.
The President also said that regulations on the wearing of masks will be strengthened with business owners and employers now legally obligated to enforce the wearing of masks when entering their premises.
Ramaphosa said that the Coronavirus Command Council had considered whether or not to return parts of the country to higher alert levels, but he said this would not stem the rate of transmissions and would cause further harm to the economy.
“The surge of infections that our experts and scientists predicted over 3 months ago has now arrived. It started in the Western Cape and is now underway in the Eastern Cape and Gauteng.”
He said Gauteng was fast approaching 100,000 confirmed cases. The Eastern Cape has passed 50,000 cases, and although the rate of transmission has slowed in the Western Cape, it will soon have 80,000 cases.
The President said that according to current projections, each of the provinces will reach the peak of infections at different times between the end of July and late September.
“Yet, while infections rise exponentially, it is important to note that our case fatality rate of 1.5% is among the lowest in the world. This is compared to a global average case fatality rate of 4.4%,” Ramaphosa said.
