LEVEL 1 COULD BE AROUND THE CORNER
President Cyril Ramaphosa has hinted that South Africa could be heading into Alert Level 1 soon.
Business Tech reports that the president addressed the South African National Editors Forum on Tuesday and said that he has received requests from religious leaders, the sporting fraternity, the entertainment sector, hotels and tourism regarding the chances of moving to a lower level.
He emphasised that the Medical Advisory Committee would be advising the National Corona Command Council on the current status of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country before any decisions can be made.
Rumours are doing the rounds that the National State of Disaster will be extended until 15 October 2020. However, the extension has not been gazetted yet.
Speaking to Radio Islam earlier this week, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said “we will have to move to level one and get closer to normal activities. We hope we can still contain the numbers and the past two weeks have been very encouraging with no upsurge and we hope that if we go to the next level, the upsurge is going to be less”.
Even though we’re still on Alert Level 2 currently, the Minister believes that we are over the surge. The months of June, July and August were predicted to have been the worst.
The Department of Health tweeted yesterday that the total number of deaths are currently at 15 265 and that more than 3.8 million tests have been conducted since the outbreak of the pandemic earlier this year.
Many believe that the country’s borders will reopen again to allow for international air and sea travel, nightclubs will be given the go-ahead to open their doors again and the attending of sporting events will be allowed again.
The wearing of masks in public is believed to still be mandatory in Alert Level 1 although confirmation is yet to be received.
Watch the SABC News video below for more information on the country’s chances of moving to Alert Level 1.
Image credits: Twitter