Ramaphosa bans booze, enforces masks and announces curfew
“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.”
He said there was clear evidence that the resumption of alcohol sales had resulted in substantial pressure placed on hospitals, including trauma and ICU units, due to motor vehicle accidents, violence and related trauma.
“Most of these and other trauma injuries occur at night.”
On the curfew, Ramaphosa announced that “as an additional measures to reduce the pressure on hospitals, a curfew will be put in place between the hours of 21:00 and 04:00.”
“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.
On the wearing of masks, the president said to reduce the rate of transmission, the wearing of cloth masks would be made mandatory.
“While many South Africans are wearing masks, there are, however, some among us who are not wearing masks when in public.
“It is therefore important that we should enforce the wearing of masks.
“Regulations on the wearing of masks will be strengthened. 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,” the president instructed.
In addition: “All workplaces and all institutions need to ensure that there is a designated coronavirus official responsible for making sure that all regulations and all precautions are strictly adhered to.” Earlier in his speech, Ramaphosa had expressed dismay at certain behaviours, explaining: “Even as most of our people have taken action to prevent the spread of the virus, there are others who have not.
“There are some among us who ignore the regulations that have been passed to combat the disease. They also act without any responsibility to respect and protect each other.