President Cyril Ramaphosa has extended the country’s COVID-19 lockdown by two more weeks, warning that lifting the measures to stop the spread of the global pandemic will lead to an uncontrollable big surge in the number of people who will be infected by the virus.
Addressing the nation from the Union Building, Ramaphosa revealed that the number of people who have been infected by coronavirus had increased from 1, 845 to 1934, an increase of 89 cases since yesterday.
In an unprecedented move, Ramaphosa also announced that he, deputy president David Mabuza, together with his Cabinet ministers, and their deputies, and premiers, will take a one-third salary cut to contribute to the Solidarity Fund to fight against COVID-19.
This will happen for the next three months.
Government will in the next weeks ramp up testing and screening in all provinces to curb the spread of the epidemic, Ramaphosa said.
“We are learning both from the experiences of other countries and from the evidence we now have about the development of the pandemic in South Africa. Both make a clear and compelling case to proceed in a manner that is cautious and properly calibrated,” he said.
“Simply put, if we end the lockdown too soon or too abruptly, we risk a massive and uncontrollable resurgence of the disease. We risk reversing the gains we have made over the last few weeks, and rendering meaningless the great sacrifices we have all made,” he said.
Ramaphosa said earlier today he had a meeting with premiers and leaders of political parties represented in Parliament on the extension of the lockdown to the end of the month instead of the initial 16 April date.
He said since he announced the lockdown two weeks ago on March 23, the global spread of the virus has worsened, with numbers of those who have tested jumping from 340 000 to over 1.5 million currently and over 90 000 deaths recorded.
The president said while it was too early to make a definitive analysis, there was sufficient evidence that the lockdown measures including closing of borders and a ban of travelling were slowing down the spread of the virus.
“In the two weeks before the lockdown, the average daily increase in new cases was around 42%. Since the start of the lockdown, the average daily increase has been around 4%,” he said, also warning that “the struggle against the coronavirus is far from over”.
Ramaphosa said the country’s strategy to save lives and protect livelihoods was anchored on a further economic stimulus to assist businesses and individuals, an intensified public health response and support for poor and vulnerable households.
