South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has rubbished rumours that the country will return to level three lockdown in response to a surge in COVID-19 cases.
South Africa recorded 1,092 new COVID-19 cases and 45 new deaths yesterday, which may serve to alleviate concerns from earlier in the week over what appeared to be a spike in cases, which led to government officials suggesting that the country could return to a hard lockdown. However, Ramaphosa has taken it upon himself to nip rumours of a move back to stricter lockdown restrictions in the bud.
“What we now need to do in light of what we are going through, I don’t want to be alarmist and I don’t want our people to be alarmed with the rumours such as that we are going to level 3, that is simply not true and I want to assure everyone that that is not true,” he said, as reported by IOL.
He added that further restrictions will not be necessary, as long as South Africans remain vigilant in maintaining preventative habits to combat the spread of COVID-19.
“All we need to do is adhere to our preventative measures and wear your masks,” he said.
Ramaphosa will no doubt be monitoring global developments with renewed lockdowns to combat second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically in places like Spain, which has declared a national state of emergency that will only expire in May next year.
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