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Coronavirus

South African health minister hints lockdown restrictions may be eased further

Health minister Zweli Mkhize says the government may consider easing more lockdown restrictions following the positive news concerning Covid-19 infection rates.

FILE PHOTO: A woman wears a protective face shield during food distribution, as South Africa starts to relax some aspects of a stringent nationwide coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown, in Diepsloot near Johannesburg, South Africa, May 8, 2020. REUTERS
Siphiwe SibekoREUTERS

The South African minister of health Zweli Mkhize revealed that his team is set to make some recommendations to the national coronavirus command council (NCCC) in regard to relaxing some lockdown restrictions. The country has witnessed a significant decline in the daily infection rate of Covid-19 and a surge in the number of recoveries which have hit 75%.

The number of daily cases has dropped from more than 10,000 cases reported per day to 2,512 cases recorded on Tuesday evening.

Mkhize said in his statement “We are preparing submissions. We will need to make recommendations around easing restrictions, and the NCCC will have to take a lot of issues into account. The president will give us guides as to what we are able to do,”.

He added that president Ramphosa will need a thorough analysis of the conditions based on scientific evidence. He noted that all sectors should contribute so that a comprehensive decision that guides the entire country can be made.

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The health minister further called on people to keep adhering to health and safety regulations such as wearing face masks, maintaining social distance, and the constant sanitizing of hands if they want to heat good news regarding lockdown restrictions “If we want to see things changing and the restrictions eased, we must focus on the wearing of masks, using hand sanitizers and washing our hands.” He reiterated.