LOCKDOWN LEVEL 4: Zorro Ramaphosa frees you up, but just a little By Ferial Haffajee
At the end of his fourth national address on Covid-19, President Cyril Ramaphosa dropped the serious to engage in some mask modelling – except that his covering, in beautiful cloth, got stuck around his eyes. He looked like a coronavirus-era Zorro: where even the most heroic leaders are being blindsided by the pesky ball of RNA with pointy bits.
SA is now on 143,000 tests, not yet up to the daily target levels but getting there. Soon, scientists will be able to make a finding to inform models that will tell us whether or not the curve is sufficiently flattened to begin the long road back from the harsh time of Covid-19. This is how it will work: we are currently at Level 5, the hard lockdown, and from May 1, we will move into Level 4, when limited activity will be allowed. Level 3 eases restrictions further, Level 2 loosens further and Level 1 is almost back to normal but not quite.We will know for sure in the following days, but Level 4 will mean you can exercise with restrictions and buy cigarettes. Schools will be reopened in phases.by the Presidency provides some guidance.
That’s quite a chunk of the economy, but there’s a proviso: only one-third of employees can return at any time to keep to the laws of physical distancing. “Businesses to be encouraged to adopt work from home [practices] where possible staff who can work remotely must be allowed to do so,” said Ramaphosa.At Level 4, the borders stay closed and there is still no travel between provinces allowed. Transport will be limited.
“Abrupt uncontrolled action will cause a massive resurgence of infections. It risks a spread [of a second wave of infections] and another hard lockdown [Level 5, which we are now at].”The levels of alert will be determined by the National Command Council after recommendations of the minister of health and the minister of trade and industry.
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