By Ashok Ramsarup :: The South African government has decided to introduce a countywide lockdown effective from Thursday until the 26th of March for 21 following the Novel Coronavirus-19 that had become a global catastrophe. The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 has risen to more than to more 400.
President Cyril Ramaphosa decided to take the drastic measures following the input by the National Coronavirus Command Council in a bid to combat the COVID-19 virus plaguing the country.
Speaking from the Unions Buildings in the country’s capital, Pretoria, President Ramaphosa describing the pandemic as a national disaster, announced a package of extraordinary measures to combat this grave public health emergency.
The president said: “From religious leaders to sporting associations, from political parties to business people, from trade unions to traditional leaders, from non-governmental organisations to public servants, every part of the society has come forward to confront this challenge.
“Many have had to make many difficult choices and sacrifices, but all have been determined that these choices and sacrifices are absolutely necessary if the country is to emerge stronger from this disastrous disease,” he said.
He heaped huge praises on South Africans for demonstratingtheir determination, their sense of purpose, their sense of community and their sense of responsibility.
The health workers, the doctors, nurses and paramedics who had been on the frontline of the pandemic, the teachers, border officials, police and traffic officers and all the other people who had been leading the response, commented Ramaphosa.