SA moves back to Level 3: latest lockdown restrictions explained
In President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address on Monday evening, he announced that South Africa would move to adjusted Level 3 lockdown in an effort to slow the spread of Covid-19 transmissions and reduce the burden on the country’s health services.
This change follows the country’s grim pandemic milestone of more than one million cumulative cases of COVID-19 since the virus first emerged in March 2020.
The amended Level 3 regulations had been adapted based on the lessons learned to date to limit COVID-19 transmissions while doing everything possible to keep the economy open.
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SA moves to Level 3 of lockdown
In a move to curb the spread of Covid-19, South Africa has moved to adjusted Level 3 from Level 1 with immediate effect, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday evening, 28 December.
The president’s announcement comes after South Africa breached the one million mark of confirmed Covid-19 cases, after 9,502 cases were reported on Sunday, bringing the cumulative total to 1,004,413 cases. In addition, South African genomic scientists recently identified a variant of the SARS-COV-2 virus, currently termed 501.V2 variant, which appears to be more contagious than the virus that drove the first wave of infections.
“Several of the Level 3 regulations are being strengthened to further limit the potential for transmission, while doing everything possible to keep the economy open,” Ramaphosa said.
President Cyril Ramaphosa became emotional as he announced tighter level 3 lockdown restrictions. Image: GCIS
A stricter curfew and tighter restrictions on alcohol sales are in the offing as South Africa enters level 3 lockdown
With the number of new coronavirus infections climbing at an unprecedented rate, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced the country is back to level 3 lockdown – but with harsher restrictions.
Ramaphosa labelled super-spreader events such as end-of-year functions, family and social gatherings, and music and cultural events as the main cause of the rapid rise in infections.
That comes as the nation is about to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
Johannesburg: The government has banned the distribution and sale of alcohol.
In his address last night, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the sale of liquor had led to high trauma in hospitals, stating that “in such a scenario, every piece of medical equipment, every hospital bed, every health-care worker, and every oxygen tank is needed to save lives and curb the further spread of Covid-19”.
According to President Ramaphosa, the level 3 lockdown regulations would remain in place until January 15, adding that these regulations would be reviewed at a later stage.
The new regulations include a new curfew that will be in place from 9pm to 6am.