South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that the nationwide lockdown will carry on for another two weeks.
The nationwide lockdown was scheduled to end on 17 April, however the two week extension means existing lockdown measures will remain in place till the 1st of May.
While addressing the nation Ramaphosa thanked the South African citizens for staying home and adhering to the lockdown regulations.
“While it is too early to make a definitive analysis of the progression of the disease in South Africa, there is sufficient evidence to show that the lockdown is working,” he said.
“Fellow South Africans, this evening, I stand before you to ask you to endure even longer. I have to ask you to make even greater sacrifices so that our country may survive this crisis and so that tens of thousands of lives may be saved. After careful consideration of the available evidence, the National Coronavirus Command Council has decided to extend the nation-wide lockdown by a further two weeks beyond the initial 21 days.”
Message on Government’s #COVID19 Response #Day14ofLockdown https://t.co/0DPWrqN518
— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) April 9, 2020
President @CyrilRamaphosa is addressing the nation on the continuing efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19. #LockdownSA #Covid_19SA pic.twitter.com/WXBIWriWr1
— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) April 9, 2020