The Department of Health is set to make submissions on the lockdown for South Africa after it receives a report from the government’s Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) on Friday 9 July.
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South Africa: Level 4 lockdown likely to be extended
Feedback from the MAC will help inform the department’s own recommendations to the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) on whether the lockdown should be extended beyond 11 July.
In a media briefing on Friday morning, department director-general Sandile Buthelezi said that discussions with the government would take place later today and this weekend.
While economists have warned about the negative impact a further extension of level 4 lockdown restrictions may have, the progression of the third wave since the measures were first announced, suggest that most, if not all, of the current restrictions will be extended.
South Africa currently has a total of 208,847 active Covid-19 cases after recording 22,910 new cases on Thursday 8 July.
460 more people succumbed to the virus taking the death toll to 63,499.
Hospital admissions increased by 711 in the past 24 hours.
There were 9 620 in private hospitals and 6 089 in public hospitals with a total of 15 709 people hospitalised.