South Africa goes into 21-day national lockdown

President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared a 21-day national lockdown on Monday evening as part of stricter measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The lockdown from midnight 26th of March to midnight 16th of April will mean a “stay-at-home” for everyone in the county, except for essential personnel such as doctors, nurses and police.

“Every person in SA should adhere strictly to the regulations we have in place and those I am announcing.

“Our fundamental task is to contain the spread of the disease. We must therefore do everything to reduce the overall number of infections.

“Individuals will not be allowed to leave their homes except under strictly controlled circumstances,” he said.

Ramaphosa said homeless people will either stay at their existing locations or, where available, alternative temporary accommodation sites will be used for their 21-day “stay-at-home” period.

“All shops and businesses will be closed. During this period, clinics, pharmacies, food-stores and hospitals will remain open,” Ramaphosa said.

He said some roads would be closed with only main roads remaining open, to control movement during the lockdown.

Ramaphosa said the Sandf will be deployed to assist the SAPS to ensure that all the lockdown is adhered to.

“Due to disruptions in supply and distribution of goods, medical and other supplies will be secured and stored in bulk,” Ramaphosa said.

Emergency water supplies will be provided to informal settlements and rural areas.

Community health teams will focus on expanding screening and testing where people live, focusing first on high density and high-risk areas.

“Coronavirus epidemic can grow very rapidly and quickly overwhelm health care services leading to a large number of avoidable deaths,” he said.

This after Ramaphosa and the national command council met on Sunday and Monday.

On Monday, the total number of confirmed cases in SA jumped to 402, only three weeks after the first case in the country was announced.

Ramaphosa cited the success of similar lockdowns in Singapore and South Korea for implementing the lockdown.

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