Cyril slows it down, but South Africans can still travel home for Christmas

People who were concerned they would not be able to travel home this festive season can breathe a sign of relief.

Tightened restrictions announced by Cyril Ramaphosa do not include a ban on interprovincial travel.

The president was widely expected to announce a ban on this, especially between the Eastern Cape and Western Cape, the provinces that are leading the second wave of coronavirus infections in the country.

These expectations would have grown as Ramaphosa spoke to the nation on Monday night, announcing that government had identified travel as the second biggest source of outbreaks after social gatherings. But despite this acknowledgment, the president only urged travellers to move about safely and adhere to measures to contain the spread of the virus.

“Many people do not observe prevention measures as they move within cities, towns and rural areas, and between different areas. We have to recognise that the more we travel, the greater the potential for the spread of the virus.

“That means wearing a mask when you are in public transport and making sure that the windows are open at all times. It also means reducing the number of people that you spend time with if you are travelling to visit family and friends in other parts of the country,” he said.

In his address, Ramaphosa urged people to socialise with immediate family rather than in large groups.

“More broadly, the massive rise in infections is the result of people not observing basic — and easy to follow — practices,” he said.

Chairing his latest “family meeting”, Ramaphosa announced a new set of restrictions, including the closure of beaches, curbing alcohol sales and banning post-funeral gatherings, commonly known as “after-tears” parties.

He presented grim figures of the spread of the coronavirus, especially since the beginning of December.

On December 3, for instance, the last day he addressed the nation, SA had recorded more than 4,400 new cases. Ten days later, new cases had shot up to nearly 8,000 a day, he said.

The number of new cases, having increased from a daily average of about 3,800 to just more than 6,600 a day, and the daily average of new cases nationally over the past seven days, is 74% higher than the previous seven days, he said.

The daily average of Covid-19 related deaths has also increased by nearly 50% over the same period — from just more than 100 deaths a day to just more than 150 deaths, he said.

The president also announced that SA recorded 5,163 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, with the health ministry confirming later that this was at a positivity rate of more than 20%. The new cases came from just 25,049 tests, meaning about one in every five tests done in the past 24-hour cycle came back positive. Previously, alarm bells sounded when the positivity rate was at 12%.

The total number of confirmed Covid-19 infections countrywide was 866,127.

“We’re getting very close to 900,000 and we’ll soon hit a million. These figures are cause for great concern. There can no longer be any doubt that SA has entered a second wave of coronavirus infections,” said Ramaphosa.

Shortly after the address, the health ministry confirmed that there were 175 Covid-19-related deaths recorded in the past 24 hours, taking the national toll to 23,451.

Ramaphosa said while there were many reasons for the massive spike in infections, gatherings, especially social gatherings and parties, had been identified as the largest source of outbreaks.

“In many of these gatherings social distancing is not being observed, venues are crowded and not adequately ventilated, hand sanitiser is not readily available and people are not wearing masks. Many people consume alcoholic drinks at these super-spreader events, with the result that people become less careful about taking measures to protect themselves and prevent infection,” he said.

He cited the post-matric Rage event in Ballito, KwaZulu-Natal, where almost 1,000 of the attendees have since tested positive for the coronavirus, as a harsh reminder of how dangerous large gatherings can be.

While it’s unclear how many more may be infected, it is speculated that up to 300 families could, in turn, have been infected, said the president.

“The sad truth about this pandemic is that festivals, concerts and parties, which should be occasions for fun and joy, are proving to be sources of infection and illness, and may even lead to deaths,” he said.

Ramaphosa said South Africans have got into the Christmas spirit early, inviting friends and family over for get-togethers. Yet in the merriment, the failure to closely adhere to all the basic precautions at all times has brought the country to the second wave.

“The festive season now poses the greatest threat to the health and wellbeing of our nation. It poses the greatest threat also to the recovery of our economy. Unless we do things differently, this will be the last Christmas for many, many South Africans,” Ramaphosa said.

He said cabinet had decided to declare the Sarah Baartman (Eastern Cape) and Garden Route (Western Cape) districts as coronavirus hotspots, as they had shown a particularly sharp rise in infections.

While these areas required particular attention, he said, the festive season posed significant risks for the entire country.

As a result, cabinet decided that further restrictions needed to be imposed nationwide from midnight on Monday. These include:

• Stricter enforcement of existing alert level 1 restrictions throughout the country during the festive season and beyond by holding individuals who do not ensure compliance with the regulations by their passengers, customers or employees liable to a fine or to imprisonment of up to six months.
• Reduce the risk of superspreading events by restricting the size of gatherings, including religious gatherings, to no more than 100 people for indoor events and 250 for outdoor events.
• Banning all post-funeral gatherings, including “after-tears” parties.
• Closing beaches and public parks for the duration of the festive season from December 16 to January 3 in the areas with the highest rate of infection and on busy days, including New Year’s Day, in KwaZulu-Natal.
• Festivals, live music and live performances at beaches are also prohibited.
• Extending the hours of the curfew — from 11pm and to 4am.
• Curbing the hours of sale of alcohol to between 10am and 6pm from Monday to Thursday.

Ramaphosa said the festive season restrictions would be reviewed in early January based on the state of the pandemic across the country.