It’s about time, Cyril

As expected, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced last night that the country is moving to Level 1.

“It is time to move to what we call our new normal. Following consultations with various stakeholders the country will move to alert Level 1 effective from midnight on Sunday,” he said.

In his address to the nation on developments in South Africa’s risk-adjusted response to the Covid-19 pandemic last night, Ramaphosa raised the number of indoor gatherings to 250 people, while outdoor gatherings will now allow 500 people.

Guests allowed at funerals have been increased to 100, while night vigils are still not allowed.

“We will be allowing international travel for business and leisure effective from 1 October,” said Ramaphosa.

Travellers will only be allowed to use three airports – King Shaka airport, OR Tambo and Cape Town airport and will be required to present a negative test result not done more than 72 hours prior or be subjected to mandatory quarantine.

The sale of alcohol is now permitted from 9am to 5pm as from Monday for home consumption.

Ramaphosa said the country had made enough progress to move to “the new normal” which will ease a number of restrictions, while other restrictions remain.

More than 15 000 people have died, and more than 600 000 people have been infected, while the country now records 2 000 new cases on average a day. The recovery rate now stands at 89%.

“We have succeeded in overcoming the worst time of this pandemic,” said Ramaphosa.

The World Health Organisation continues to advise South Africa on how to better deal with the virus and how to effectively reopen the country.

“Although we have made a remarkable progress, people are still getting infected. Our greatest challenge and most important task is to make sure we do not experience a second wave, like other countries.

“We want to avoid this. Some of these countries had even reopened its businesses and had to reimpose a hard lockdown to deal with the resurgence of the virus.”

Testing will be increased, as will the scope of testing and improving contact tracing, including the use of the Covid-19 alert mobile app, which alerts any user if they have been in close contact with anyone who has tested positive for the virus.

“Contact tracing is an important preventative measure to help curb the spread of Covid-19.

“We are also preparing to receive the vaccine to ensure we get it as soon as it is available. We are also investing in producing and distributing our own vaccine.”