People across South Africa are bracing for a 21-day lockdown after the government announced sweeping new measures to tackle the spread of the new coronavirus.
South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa disclosed that South Africans will be adviced to stay at home from midnight on Thursday, March 26 until midnight on Thursday, April 16.
According to him this is a decisive measure to save lives of South Africans from infections and to save lives of hundreds of thousands of our people.
On Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases leapt again to 554 – just over a week ago, the figure was 62. The surge has raised alarms that a wider outbreak would put under serious stress the country’s already strained healthcare system in one of the world’s most unequal societies.
Ramaphosa stressed that people will still be able to leave their homes to seek medical care, buy food or collect a social grant.
All shops and businesses are to close, with the exemption of pharmacies, laboratories, banks, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, supermarkets, petrol stations and healthcare providers.
Health workers, emergency personnel and security services will be allowed to work, while soldiers will be deployed to patrol the streets in support of the police.
