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Ramaphosa worried about rising Covid-19 infections, national solidarity fracturing

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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday he was worried about the rising number of Covid-19 cases in the country and defended a lockdown that has remained in place since March 27 to try and slow transmissions down, although some rules have since been relaxed.

Separately, the chief executive of one of the country’s leading business groups said she was concerned that the social unity crucial in fighting the pandemic was coming apart.

In a weekly newsletter, Ramaphosa said the total number of cases would pass the 50,000 mark in the coming week, while fatalities would also likely surpass 1,000.

“Like many South Africans, I too have been worried as I watch these figures keep rising,” he said.

“While these numbers are broadly in line with what the various models had projected, there is a big difference between looking at a graph on a piece of paper and seeing real people becoming infected, some getting ill and some dying.”

He said the lockdown, which the government has relaxed to level 3 from the maximum level 5, had given the country time to prepare health facilities and interventions for the expected spike in infections.

Ramaphosa’s government has faced several legal challenges to the lockdown, most prominently from the tobacco industry over a continued ban on cigarette sales which the sector says has fuelled a thriving illicit market.

In her own weekly newsletter, the chief executive officer of Business Leadership South Africa, Busi Mavuso, said the crisis was far from over “and we cannot afford to be distracted in the fight against the disease”.

“Yet, I feel the social solidarity that is essential to this fight is fracturing. One of the reasons is that government is facing court action on several fronts over the lockdown,” Mavuso added.

Last week, the High Court in the capital Pretoria declared various lockdown regulations unconstitutional, saying that the government had not properly considered their impact on people’s constitutional rights.

Mavuso noted that the government was appealing the decision, and another court may find differently.

“But for a frustrated public, the court finding appears to give legitimacy to their grievances over the lockdown,” she said.

“In aiming to save as many people as possible, government’s decisions must be rational and clearly connected to that outcome.”

“Whatever courts find on lockdown details, there is no doubt that (physical) distancing and health protocols work and must be in place,” Mavuso added.

As of Sunday, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in South Africa was at 48,285, out of which 998 people had lost their lives, Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said.

On Monday, Ramaphosa said the number of infections was probably rising faster than most people had imagined, a cause for concern but not alarm.

“As we have shown, we can slow the spread of the disease, and we should continue to take all measures possible to continue to flatten the infection curve,” he wrote in his newsletter.

He said the country was intensifying the programme of screening, testing, contact tracing and, where necessary, isolation.

“Over the coming weeks, as we watch the coronavirus infections continue to rise, we must remember that we are not helpless,” he said.

“And we should remember one simple, but fundamental, message: Don’t be alarmed. Be prepared.”

Source: ANA


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