President Cyril Ramaphosa Picture: GCIS President Cyril Ramaphosa Picture: GCIS
Cape Town – The sale of alcohol has been suspended with immediate effect, while a national curfew between the hours of 9pm and 4am will be implemented from tonight.
“There is 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. Most of these and other trauma injuries occur at night.
“Therefore, as an additional measure to reduce the pressure on hospitals, a curfew will be put in place between the hours of 9pm and 4am,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said.
His address last night followed a number of meetings of the Cabinet, the National Coronavirus Command Council and the President’s Co-ordinating Council, with a number of strict measures put in place as infections are expected to peak around the country.
By yesterday, there were more than 276000 confirmed Covid-19 cases in South Africa.
“The storm is upon us,” Ramaphosa said. "We are now recording over 12000 new cases every day. That is the equivalent of 500 new infections every hour.”
Since the start of the outbreak in March, at least 4 079 people have died.
“The surge of infections that our experts and scientists predicted has now arrived. It started in the Western Cape and is now under way in the Eastern Cape and Gauteng. Gauteng is 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.
“According to current projections, each of our provinces will reach the peak of infections at different times between the end of July and late September,” he said.
In the light of the increased rate of infection, the National Coronavirus Command Council and the Cabinet considered returning all or parts of the country to a higher alert level, Ramaphosa said.
“The advice we have received is that taking this step now would not necessarily achieve a significant reduction in the rate of transmission and would come at an extraordinary economic cost, putting more livelihoods at risk and potentially causing long-lasting social harm.
“The Cabinet has therefore decided that the country will remain at alert level 3 at this time, but that we should however strengthen the enforcement of existing regulations and take certain additional measures.”
Apart from people who need to travel to and from work or who need to seek urgent medical or other assistance during this time, everyone will be required to remain at home.
The curfew will take effect at 9pm tonight.
Ramaphosa said taxis undertaking local trips will be permitted to increase their capacity to 100%, while long distance taxis will not be allowed to exceed 70% occupancy, on condition that new risk mitigation protocols related
to masks, vehicle sanitising and open
windows are followed.
Family visits and other social
activities have also been banned for
now.
“I know that this places a great
burden on families and individuals
and can cause great emotional strain,
especially for those with elderly
parents. It goes against our very
nature as social beings, but it is a
hardship that we must endure for
that much longer to protect those we
love and care for from this disease,”
Ramaphosa said.
“At the same time, we have
decided to ease restrictions on
activities that pose a lower risk
of infection and are important
for economic or educational
purposes. As part of resuming
economic activity, all auctions will
be permitted subject to protocols
similar to those that currently apply
to agricultural auctions.
"Parks will
be open for exercise, but not for any
form of gathering.”
Regulations on the wearing of
masks will be strengthened and
employers and owners of any other
public building are now legally
obliged to ensure that anyone
entering their premises or vehicle
must be wearing a mask.