The storm is upon us: Ramaphosa

● Sale of alcohol banned ● Masks mandatory ● Curfew imposed from 9pm-4am

SOUTH Africa is recording 500 new Covid-19 cases an hour. To help curb the surging numbers of infections and limit the strain on health services, lockdown restrictions will now include tighter controls such as a curfew and an immediate ban on the sale of alcohol.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the more stringent lockdown level 3 regulations in his address to the nation last night.

Among the measures are the immediate ban on the sale of alcohol, a 9pm to 4am curfew, the strict enforcement of the wearing of masks in public and the enforcement of the sanitisation of taxis, which must be driven with windows open. Ramaphosa said the Cabinet had decided to keep the country at alert level 3, but to “strengthen the enforcement of existing regulations and take certain additional measures”.

“In light of the increased rate of infection, the National Coronavirus Command Council and the Cabinet have considered returning all or parts of the country to a higher alert level, either to level 4 or level 5.

“The advice we have received is that taking this step now would not necessarily achieve a significant reduction in the rate of transmission and would come at an extraordinary economic cost, putting more livelihoods at risk and potentially causing long-lasting social harm,” Ramaphosa said.

“While many South Africans are wearing masks, there are, however, some among us who are not wearing masks when in public. Employers, shop owners and managers, public transport operators, and managers and owners of any other public building are now legally obliged to ensure that anyone entering their premises or vehicle must be wearing a mask,” he said.

Ramaphosa said taxis undertaking local trips would now be permitted to increase their capacity to 100%, while long-distance taxis would not be allowed to exceed 70% occupancy, on condition that new risk mitigation protocols related to masks, vehicle sanitising and open windows were followed.

He said it was vital not to burden health facilities with alcohol-related injuries that could have been avoided.

“This is a fight to save every life, and we need to save every bed. We have therefore decided that in order to conserve hospital capacity, the sale, dispensing and distribution of alcohol will be suspended with immediate effect.

“There is now clear evidence that the resumption of alcohol sales has resulted in substantial pressure being put on hospitals, including trauma and ICU units, due to motor vehicle accidents, violence and related trauma,” he said.

He said that as an additional measure to reduce the pressure on hospitals, a curfew would be implemented between 9pm and 4am from today.

“Apart from people who need to travel to and from work or who need to seek urgent medical or other assistance during this time, everyone will be required to remain at home,” he said.

Ramaphosa said few parts of the country would remain untouched by the virus.

“The coronavirus storm is far fiercer and more destructive than any we have known before. It is stretching our resources and our resolve to their limits. The surge of infections that our experts and scientists predicted over three months ago has now arrived.

“The storm is upon us. More than a quarter of a million South Africans have been infected with coronavirus, and we know that many more infections have gone undetected.

“As of this evening, there are 276 242 confirmed cases in the country. We are now recording over 12 000 new cases every day. That is the equivalent of 500 new infections every hour.

“Since the start of the outbreak in March, at least 4 079 people have died from Covid-19. What should concern us most is that a quarter of those who died, passed away in the last week,” he said.

He added that some were not adhering to the Covid-19 lockdown regulations. “There are some among us who ignore the regulations... there are a number of people who have taken to organising parties, who have drinking sprees, and some who walk around in crowded spaces without masks,” he said.

“Then there are some of our people who see no problem attending funerals where the number of people in attendance exceed the number of 50 that has been set out in the regulations. This is how the virus is spread – through carelessness and through recklessness.”

Ramaphosa said that according to projections, infections would peak in provinces at different times between the end of July and late September.

He said scientists and scenario planners had presented models projecting that South Africa might have between 40 000 and 50 000 deaths before the end of this year. He said 2 million coronavirus tests and 20 million screenings had been conducted.

“We have made available almost 28 000 hospital beds for Covid-19 patients and have constructed functional field hospitals across the country.

“We now have more than 37 000 quarantine beds in private and public facilities across the country, ready to isolate those who cannot do so at home.

“We have secured 1 700 additional ventilators, and companies in South Africa are in the process of producing another 12 000 ventilation devices for delivery between the end of July and the end of August,” he said.