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Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said districts would be assigned individual closure levels to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize at an inter-ministerial meeting on March 24, 2020 detailing how the government will respond before and during the 21-day shutdown announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa. Image: Kayleen Morgan / EWN.
CAPE TOWN – Health Minister Zweli Mkhize confirmed that closure levels would be tailored to districts in areas where there were high levels of COVID-19 infections.
This is likely to apply to the Western Cape, where Cape Town accounts for more than half of the confirmed cases in South Africa.
On Wednesday night, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the government will begin consultations to relax the restrictions at level 3, but not in areas of concern.
The Health Department believes that cluster outbreaks around Cape Town are driving the rapid progression of COVID-19 in the region.
Minister Mkhize said specific efforts were needed to contain the spread of the disease in the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape.
According to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, districts in areas with a high number of COVID-19 cases will be assigned individual levels of block depending on the average number of active cases per 100,000 people.
On a visit to the Eastern Cape today, President Cyril Ramphosa stressed that the reduction of the blocking restrictions must be carried out strategically.
“We are not stuck at level 4, I have to make it very clear, now we are going to migrate to level 3 so that we can loosen a series of restrictions so that the economy can start operating again.”
The National Command Council will review the level of lockdown by district every two weeks.
CLOCK: Ramaphosa: without blocking, at least 80,000 would have already been infected
For official information on COVID-19 from the Department of Health, click here.
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