Strict rules for virus hot spots

Intensive surveillance in problematic areas

THE seven metros and five district coronavirus hot spots declared by the government, among them Cape Town, may see lockdown alert levels escalated and movement restricted after the country moves to level 3 on Monday.

The metros are Cape Town, Johannesburg, Tshwane, Buffalo City, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini and Nelson Mandela Bay. The affected districts are West Coast, Overberg, and Cape Winelands in the Western Cape, and Chris Hani in the Eastern Cape and iLembe in KwaZulu-Natal, Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said yesterday.

Dlamini Zuma confirmed that these regions would move to level 3 lockdown on Monday, but added they could be subjected to “higher level restrictions, including restricting movement to and from hot spots”, should other interventions to reduce the rate of transmission fail.

The interventions which may be enforced by the minister of health, in consultation with the relevant health authorities in hot spots, include “intensive surveillance” measures, according to the latest schedule of regulations.

The new regulations lift the nighttime military curfew, extend the permitted exercise time to 6pm and allow the sale of alcohol from Mondays to Thursdays, but maintain the controversial ban on the sale of cigarettes.

They also keep in place the ban on inter-provincial travel, except for those who have permits to allow them to work in another province or attend a funeral. Travelling between metropolitan areas, districts and hot spots is also not allowed, except for work, schooling and funerals and moving to a new residence.

Dlamini Zuma said this decision was taken because “inter-provincial travel has contributed to community transmission”. She reiterated that the decision to ease restrictions was informed by South Africa’s socio-economic constraints, though the infection rate was increasing and the expected peak of cases in the country was “still on the horizon”.

The ban on evictions from rented homes would fall away under the new regulations, the minister said, for the reason that rental income was recognised as a vital source of income. However, the process had to be sanctioned by a court as fair.

Dlamini Zuma said government was obliging every company to have “a Covid-19 compliance officer and plan”, which would be clearly communicated to all employees.

There are currently just under 26 000 confirmed Covid-19 cases in South Africa, with almost two-thirds of cases registered in the Western Cape, which incorporates three of the districts listed as hot spots.