“These measures will prove invaluable as the number of cases continues to increase. Indeed, this is the moment we have prepared for. We have been advised by experts that the pandemic will become worse before it gets better,” he said.
The president acknowledged there were “some who tried to downplay the threat posed” by the coronavirus.
However, “the majority of South Africans have understood its danger and have acted accordingly. Indeed, the patience and solidarity demonstrated by so many South Africans has saved many thousands of lives”, he said.
More than 400,000 deaths have now been recorded across the world, making Covid-19 one of the most devastating pandemics in the last century.