President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a raft of measures including travel bans and closing schools early in a bid to put the lid on the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
Addressing the nation on Sunday night following an urgent cabinet meeting, Ramaphosa said: “as of now, South Africa has 61 confirmed cases of people infected with the virus, and this number is expected to rise in the coming days and weeks.”
He said it was “concerning that we are now dealing with the internal transmission of the virus”, adding “that there can be no half measures.”
A national state of disaster has also been declared in terms of the Disaster Management Act which will enable the government to set up an emergency, rapid response system to limit the impact of the spread of the virus.
President Ramaphosa announced “a travel ban on foreign nationals from high-risk countries such as Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Germany, United States, the United Kingdom, and China as from 18 March 2020.”
The government has also advised South Africans to refrain from travelling to or through those high-risk countries.
“Any person who has visited high-risk countries in the past 20 days will be denied a visa. South African citizens returning from high-risk countries will be subjected to testing and self-isolation or quarantine on return to South Africa,” the President said.
He said 35 of the country’s 53 land ports of entry will be closed from Monday while two of the eight seaports will be closed for passengers and crew change.
The President also called for South Africans to limit domestic air travel as well as in buses and taxis.
In a bid to limit contact amongst people, Ramaphosa said gatherings of more than 100 people will be prohibited while mass celebrations of upcoming national days such as Human Rights Day and other large government events will be canceled.
Schools will be closed from Wednesday, 18 March and will remain closed until after the Easter weekend. “To compensate, the mid-year school holidays will be shortened by a week,” the President said.
Ramaphosa said that the government is working with colleges, universities and other public facilities such as Parliament, prisons, police stations, and military installations to intensify hygiene controls.
He also announced that an economic package to mitigate the effect on the economy will be formulated.
Government Ministers will be addressing the media on Monday to unpack more detail on the measures announced by the President, who will chair a Command Centre that will meet three times a week.
