South Africa Prepares For 21 Day Lockdown

President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa has announced a full lockdown for the country for a period of 21 days as of Thursday.

The announcement comes as the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country reached 402 on Monday.

President Ramamphosa said that during the lockdown no citizens will be permitted to leave their home unless seeking medical care, buying food, medicines or other supplies or collecting social grants.

Pharmacies, banks, laboratories, essential financial and payment services, supermarkets, petrol stations and healthcare providers will remain open.

In addition, those involved in responding to the virus will be exempt, including health workers and law enforcement officials.

It is hoped that the nationwide closures will help to flatten the curve of new infections.

According to the President, “Without decisive action, the number of people infected will rapidly increase from a few hundred to tens of thousands, and within a few weeks, to hundreds of thousands.”

"While this measure will have a considerable impact on people's livelihoods, on the life of our society and on our economy, the human cost of delaying this action would be far, far greater," he added.

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will be deployed to support the police in ensuring these measures are implemented.