PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has announced the country will begin a gradual return to economic activity from Friday, 1 May.

On Thursday evening, the president addressed the nation following a meeting of the National Command Council held earlier today where consultations with several stakeholders, including leaders of political parties represented in Parliament took place.

According to Ramaphosa, government will implement a risk adjusted strategy through which they take a deliberate and cautious approach to the easing of current lockdown restrictions.

“To achieve this, we have developed an approach that determines the measures we should have in place based on the direction of the pandemic in our country. As part of this approach, there will be five coronavirus levels,” he explained.

“The National Coronavirus Command Council will determine the alert level based on an assessment of the infection rate and the capacity of our health system to provide care to those who need it. The alert level will be lowered from level 5 to level 4 from 01 May, and some businesses will resume operations,” said Ramaphosa

Ramaphosa said to ensure the country’s response to the pandemic can be as precise and targeted as possible, there will be a national level and separate levels for each province, district and metro in the country.

Because Covid-19 confirmed case numbers and rates of infection differ across the country, alert levels will be determined at the provincial, and in some cases, the district level once the full nationwide lockdown ends.

“All businesses that are permitted to resume operations will be required to do so in a phased manner, first preparing the workplace for a return to operations, followed by the return of the workforce in batches of no more than one-third. Every business will have to adhere to detailed health and safety protocols to protect their employees, and workplace plans will be put in place to enable disease surveillance and prevent the spread of infection,” he said.

He also said all gatherings, apart from funerals and for work, will remain prohibited.

“Those who are elderly, and those with underlying conditions, must remain at home and take additional precautions to isolate themselves. The sale of cigarettes will be permitted. “Conference and convention centres, entertainment venues, cinemas, theatres, and concerts will remain closed. Concerts, sporting events, and religious, cultural and social gatherings will not be allowed until it is deemed safe for them to continue,” he said.

He added the country’s borders will remain closed except for transportation of goods and repatriation of South Africans who are abroad.

His speech comes after South Africa recorded 318 new COVID-19 cases, with the total number of confirmed cases at 3 953 as of Thursday.

The country has also reported 10 new deaths – with the Western Cape recording six deaths, KwaZulu-Natal two deaths and Gauteng and the Eastern Cape have each recorded one death. This brings the number of total deaths related to COVID-19 to 75.

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