WITH fears of third-wave looming due to the long weekend, thecountry's coronavirus alert level has been kept at level 1 with fewrestrictions tweaked to avoid super spreading.
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday night announced that the sale ofoff-site alcohol will be banned for four days starting on Friday until Mondaywhile on-site consumption in shebeens, taverns and restaurants will be allowedfor that duration.
Public recreational places such as beaches will remain will funeralscan only be attended by 100 mourners.
Ramaphosa said the ban for the four days was given the role of alcoholin fueling reckless behavior. The curfew will be from midnight to 4 am whileprovincial traveling will be allowed to allow people to visit relatives duringthe holidays.
The president pointed out that Easter Weekend is a time for spiritual gatheringsand congregational worship was part of the religious community and inconsultations with faith-based organizations, it was agreed that to increase abit the number of people who can attend.
"Following this consultation, it has been determined that religiousgatherings over this period will be restricted to a total number of 250 peopleindoors and 500 outdoors. Where the venue is too small to accommodate thesenumbers with appropriate social distancing, then no more than 50 percent of thecapacity of the venue may be used," he said.
He added that as the country is heading for the weekend, for many,this would be a welcome moment to pause and rest, whether from work or ourstudies, and the pressures of the last months.
"Many of us have made plans for the upcoming long weekend. Some of uswill be heading out of town; others will be visiting friends and family. Manyof us will be attending gatherings and celebrations. For millions of people,this is also a time of religious observance," he said.
While the rate of transmission remained stable, Ramaphosa urges thenation not to let the guard down and this when caution is needed more thanever.
He said the reality was thatgreater movement of people, interprovincial travel, greater use of publictransit and gatherings present a great risk of an increase in infections.
Over the last few days, he had been consulting with experts, religiousleaders, provincial government leaders, and traditionalists which led to theintroduction of few restrictions.
"Given the relatively low transmission levels, we have decided to keepthe country on coronavirus Alert Level 1. However, due to the specificcircumstances of this period, we need to make a few adjustments," he said,adding that
Ramaphosa also used the address to the nation to spell out thegovernment's vaccine rollout program and promised that more doses will bebought from various countries and the target to reach 40 million people was areality.
Also over 2,000 vaccination sites have been identified across thecountry as further support in infrastructure.
"These include general practitioners' rooms, community clinics andpharmacies, retail outlets, and in some instances, larger facilities likestadiums and conference centres. An Electronic Vaccination Data System has beenestablished to manage the vaccine rollout and direct people towards vaccinationsites closest to where they live," he said.
