South African Government has launched Risk Adjusted Strategy for public comment and consultation, as it moves to ease the nation-wide lockdown while carefully considering public health and the re-opening of the economy.
The easing of the lockdown is government’s effort to gradually grease the wheels of the economy and unlock some local production for local consumption and export.
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel launched the strategy on Saturday and outlined how government will re-open the economy gradually as announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
On Thursday, the President announced that new lockdown regulations will come into effect as of 1 May 2020.
Under the new regulations, government will make use of an alert system that determines easing of restrictions.
“Level 4 means the lockdown is still there but there will be a few changes. What is important is that there will be more people and companies opening up and more people going to work.
“We are taking all these measures to try and make sure that the curve of infection and the speed of the spread of infection is not high so that the curve does not overwhelm our health services,” said Dlamini-Zuma.
Under the different levels of alert, various scenarios are envisaged. Under level 5 the high virus spread and/or low health system readiness is forecast with a full lockdown implemented.
Level 4 forecasts a moderate to high virus spread with low to moderate readiness under high restrictions. Level 3 depicts moderate virus spread with moderate readiness and moderate restrictions.
Under level 2, government forecasts a moderate virus spread with high readiness and reduced restrictions. Level 1 is the desired scenario where a low virus spread is forecast with high readiness with minimum restrictions.
How quickly South Africans move from the imminent level 4 to the desired level 1 of lockdown rests squarely on their conduct, said the COGTA Minister.
But she cautioned South Africans from misinterpreting the easing of the lockdown and highlighted that the public health conditions must always be adhered to.
While some regulations will be eased, inter-provincial travel is prohibited unless it is for the return of work, school or travelling for a funeral. Recreational travel, meeting of friends and family is banned.
Exercise will be allowed but only under very strict conditions that are yet to be outlined. Regulations under which people may exercise will be published on Thursday.
