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President Cyril Ramaphosa says top officials will meet on Sunday (January 10) to discuss closure restrictions for South Africa.
Speaking in an interview with the SABC, the president said that the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) met earlier this week, with more provincial meetings now scheduled for Sunday.
“The cabinet will also analyze some of the recommendations coming from our natjoints and health department. That’s when we can make an announcement to the nation, ”he said.
Ramaphosa said the government was concerned about the continued increase in infections.
“In the initial stages of the virus, we closed the country to prepare our health systems. Our healthcare system is robust and resisted infections at the time. But now this is the second wave and we have a different variant. “
To stop the spread of the virus, Ramaphosa said South Africans must keep up with protective measures, such as wearing a mask, washing their hands and continuing with social distancing.
At the NCCC meeting on Wednesday, officials called for stricter measures to curb the rise in coronavirus infections at a meeting to discuss the state’s response to the pandemic. Bloomberg reported.
Cooperative Government Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Police Minister Bheki Cele recommended that the country go to virus alert level 4 for 30 days, said two people familiar with the matter. They asked not to be identified because no decision has been made.
Other officials concerned about the impact that more severe restrictions could have on the economy called for the relaxation of measures, including a ban on the sale of alcohol and the closure of the country’s beaches, the people said.
The government announced on December 28 that it was moving the country to virus alert level 3 from level 1, banning the sale of alcohol and extending a nationwide curfew to curb the spread of the pandemic.
On December 28, 2020, Ramaphosa announced that South Africa would move to an adjusted level 3 with immediate effect.
The adjusted Tier 3 regulations were released on December 29, 2020 and contain more restrictions and stricter penalties for non-compliance in order to slow the spread of the virus while keeping an economy running as much as possible.
These include a stricter curfew, a ban on the country’s beaches, as well as a ban on the sale of alcohol.
Under Level 4 restrictions that were in effect in May, travel between provinces, with the exception of freight transport, was prohibited, and borders remained closed to international travel, “except for the repatriation of South African and foreign nationals.
However, analysts have noted that the government has subsequently deviated from the original regulations in place, making it difficult to determine what any level of lockdown would not imply, with the tiered system being more a sign of the severity of the infection in the country.
Read: South Africa Should Consider Stronger Laws On Alcohol – Here’s What You Need To Know
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