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South Africa’s National Command Council, the body that oversees the government’s response to the coronavirus crisis, is considering easing shutdown rules more quickly as economic deposits and poverty levels skyrocket, according to three senior officials. officials with knowledge of the talks.
According to some of the authorities who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to comment, the curves in some provinces or areas with low infection rates could be relaxed and retained in critical areas such as Cape Town.
While one official said a decision is likely to be made within 10 days, another said that a timetable had not been set to adjust the level of blocking.
Africa’s largest economy stopped almost on March 27 when the government tried to buy time to prepare the health system to cope with a massive influx of coronavirus patients.
Although the restrictions were reduced as of May 1, many companies remain partially or completely closed, job losses are increasing and the central bank warned that the economy could shrink 6.1% this year.
Current restrictions are unfeasible for many companies, according to Busi Mavuso, executive director of the Business Leadership South Africa lobby group.
“Some companies simply cannot open with 50% of their staff – there are complex production lines that operate or do not operate at all,” he said in a weekly newsletter on Monday.
“Others cannot function because they might consider themselves capable of opening up, but the key suppliers are not, so they cannot access the inputs to restart production.”
South Africa has the highest number of coronavirus infections diagnosed in Africa. Of the 11,350 cases detected so far, 97% have occurred in four of the nine provinces, with Cape Town and the surrounding Western Cape province accounting for 54%.
Numbers may be biased as testing and approaches and detection capabilities vary.
The government is still reviewing its response to the virus, according to Health Minister Zweli Mkhize.
“There are different stages in which different parts of the country are,” he said in a televised speech.
“There are areas that have not shown new patients, there are no new cases, and therefore we have to address issues and levels very differently.”
Nonceba Mhlauli, a spokesman for the Minister of the Presidency, Jackson Mthembu, declined to comment. Khusela Diko, a spokesperson for President Cyril Ramaphosa, did not immediately respond to questions seeking comment.
Read: 11,350 confirmed cases of coronavirus in South Africa
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