Faizel Patel – 17/08/2020
As the country moves to alert level 2 at midnight to ease the economic pressure on the country, President Cyril Ramaphosa says it is too soon to celebrate.
Ramaphosa was addressing the nation on Monday in his weekly newsletter “From the desk of the President.”
Ramaphosa says the move to alert level 2 will come as a relief to all South Africans who have had to live under stringent restrictions for the last five months.
He says the move is a sign of the progress we are making in reducing new infections and demand on our health facilities and also a very important development as we strive to restart our economy.
However the president says it is too soon to celebrate.
“We are still very much in the middle of a deadly pandemic that has taken over 11,000 lives in South Africa alone. At more than half a million confirmed cases, we still have the fifth highest number of infections in the world. And there is always a chance of a resurgence of the disease.”
Ramaphosa says South Africa should use New Zealand as a stark reminder of the need for vigilance.
“Three months since the country was declared coronavirus-free, New Zealand is once again under lockdown. Although the latest outbreak was of relatively few cases, the government swiftly re-imposed lockdown restrictions.”
Ramaphosa says South Africans now need to manage the COVID-19 risk and ensure that the gains we have made thus far in containing the pandemic’s spread are not reversed.
“The greatest threat to the health of nation right now is complacency. It may be that we are now permitted to meet friends and family, to visit entertainment venues, to travel for leisure and to consume alcohol in restaurants, bars and taverns.”
Ramaphosa says the ‘second wave’ of infections that several other countries have experienced is an ever-present possibility for us too.
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