Staff Reporter
During the 21-day national lockdown announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africans will not be allowed to leave their homes, except under strictly controlled circumstances, such as to seek medical care, buy food, medicine and other supplies or collect a social grant.
Also, all shops and businesses will be closed, except for pharmacies, laboratories, banks, essential financial and payment services, supermarkets, fuel stations and healthcare facilities.
The army will be deployed to assist in implementing the measures, the president said in a national televised address on Monday night.
“From midnight on Thursday, 26 March, until midnight on Thursday, 16 April, all South Africans will have to stay at home,” Ramaphosa said, as he outlined his government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Confirmed cases of the acute respiratory disease in South Africa now stand at 402, the highest on the continent.
“I have accordingly directed the South African National Defence Force be deployed to support the South African Police Service in ensuring that the measures we are announcing are implemented,” Ramaphosa said.
“This nationwide lockdown will be accompanied by a public health management programme which will significantly increase screening, testing, contact tracing and medical management,” he added.
Temporary shelters will be identified for homeless people.
More places are also being identified for quarantine and self-isolation for people who cannot self-isolate at home.
The categories of people who will be exempted from this lockdown include health workers in the public and private sectors, emergency personnel, those in the security services – such as the police, traffic officers, military medical personnel and soldiers – and others whose services are essential to the country’s response to the pandemic.
Also included are those involved in the production, distribution and supply of food and basic goods, essential banking services, the maintenance of power, water and telecommunications services and laboratory services as well as the provision of medical and hygiene products.
The government is expected to release a full list of essential personnel soon.
Companies that are essential to the production and transportation of food, basic goods and medical supplies will remain open.
Also, companies whose operations require continuous processes such as furnaces and underground mine operations will be required to make arrangements for care and maintenance to avoid damage to their operations.
Provision will be made for essential transport services to continue, including transport for essential staff and for patients who need to be managed elsewhere.
The president said the global crisis has deepened and it’s important for South Africa to act decisively and speedily to contain the pandemic.
There are over 340 000 confirmed cases across the world with about 16 300 reported dead.
About 101 000 are said to have recovered from the disease.
South Africa has not recorded any deaths and four people have recovered.
“It is clear from the development of the disease in other countries and from our own modelling that immediate, swift and extraordinary action is required if we are to prevent a human catastrophe of enormous proportions in our country,” Ramaphosa said.
“Our fundamental task at this moment is to contain the spread of the disease.”
The president said the government was concerned that a rapid rise in infections would stretch South Africa’s health services beyond what the country can manage and many people would not be able to access the care they need.
“We must therefore do everything within our means to reduce the overall number of infections and to delay the spread of infection over a longer period – what is known as flattening the curve of infections,” he said.
South African citizens and residents arriving from high-risk countries will automatically be placed under quarantine for 14 days.
Non-South Africans arriving on flights from high-risk countries that were prohibited a week ago will be turned back.
International flights to Lanseria Airport will be temporarily suspended.
International travellers who arrived in South Africa after March 9 2020 from high-risk countries will be confined to their hotels until they have completed a 14-day period of quarantine.
The president also urged everyone to:
- wash hands frequently with hand sanitisers or soap and water for at least 20 seconds;
- cover nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing with tissue or flexed elbow; and
- avoid close contact with anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms.