CHARLES MOLELE
PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has given a green light to restaurants, cinemas, casinos, accredited accommodation and personal care services to start operating as the country further eased the coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
The decision to ease COVID-19 lockdown restrictions was taken by Cabinet following rigorous and wide-ranging consultations with labour and business representatives, among others.
Ramaphosa said during a televised address to the nation on Wednesday evening that many businesses that closed when the lockdown took effect in March have still not been able to open under the current restrictions, leading to massive loss of profits and incomes.
He added that dates of when these sectors will be reopened will be made in due course by relevant ministers.
“We have taken this decision with due care and seriousness, appreciating the risks associated with each activity and the measures needed to manage those risks,” Ramaphosa said.
“Altogether, these industries employed over 500,000 people before the lockdown. We have had to think about these people and those who depend on them for their livelihoods.”
Ramaphosa said government was encouraged by a study conducted by the University of Oxford which found that the life-saving drug Dexamethasone was effective in the fight against coronavirus, having proved to reduce deaths among COVID-19 patients on ventilation by a third.
“The Department of Health and the Ministerial Advisory Committee has recommended that dexamethasone can be considered for use on patients on ventilators and on oxygen supply,” he said.
“We believe that this will improve our management of the disease among those who are most severely affected.”
Despite government’s effective prevention response, Ramaphosa said he was deeply worried by the rising number of infections over the past few weeks, particularly in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape.
“The Western Cape has so far been hardest hit by the disease, accounting for about 60% of infections across the country. While community transmission has remained low across most of the country for the past 9 weeks, it has been rising rapidly in that province. There are indications that transmission in the Eastern Cape is now starting to rise and may just be a few weeks behind the Western Cape,” he said.
Since the start of the outbreak there have been 80,412 confirmed coronavirus cases in South Africa.
Of these, 44,331 people – or around 55% – have recovered.
(Compiled by Inside Politics staff)
