It has been exactly seven weeks since the first case of the coronavirus was confirmed in our country. As a nation we have been forced to take aggressive action against an invisible enemy that threatened our lives and the lives of our loved ones.As we enter the fifth week of an unprecedented nation-wide lockdown – and as we look to the future – we should remember why we are here.
These are usually older people and those who suffer from underlying conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease and cancer.Across the world, more than 185,000 people have succumbed to the disease.Because the coronavirus can spread so rapidly through a population, it can overwhelm even the best-resourced health system within a matter of weeks.
To make matters worse, people who are suffering from other conditions or need emergency procedures are unable to get the care they need.I am reiterating these basic facts – which by now are probably familiar to many of you – because they explain the actions we have taken to date and they inform the measures I am announcing this evening.
By delaying the spread of the virus, we have had time to prepare our health facilities and mobilise some of the essential medical supplies needed to meet the inevitable increase in infections.There is clear evidence that the lockdown has been working. Our people need to eat. They need to earn a living. Companies need to be able to produce and to trade, they need to generate revenue and keep their employees in employment.
We have to balance the need to resume economic activity with the imperative to contain the virus and save lives. Level 1 means that most normal activity can resume, with precautions and health guidelines followed at all times. The National Coronavirus Command Council will determine the alert level based on an assessment of the infection rate and the capacity of our health system to provide care to those who need it.We have undertaken a detailed exercise to classify the different parts of the economy according to the risk of transmission in that sector, the expected impact of the lockdown, the economic contribution of the sector and the effect on livelihoods.
This means that some activity will be allowed to resume subject to extreme precautions to limit community transmission and outbreaksEvery business will have to adhere to detailed health and safety protocols to protect their employees, and workplace plans will be put in place to enable disease surveillance and prevent the spread of infection.
Reads more like an extension though. We just have to do what we have to do.... wait for level 3.
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