South Africa Declares Coronavirus (COVID'19) a National Disaster

SOUTH AFRICA - In Brief 15 Mar 2020 by Iraj Abedian

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President Ramaphosa a short while ago informed the nation of his Cabinet's decision to declare COVID"19 a national disaster, introducing a raft of immediate measures to contain the spread of the virus. At time of writing, South Africa has 61 reported cases of positively diagnosed corona virus patients, all under treatment. As of now, no death. President Ramaphosa announced that the country should expect a rise in the number of affected individuals over the next month. To avoid any further importation of the virus, South Africa has revoked all the visas issued to the citizens of countries such as Italy, China, Iran, South Korea, Spain, USA, UK and Germany with immediate effect. In effect there is a travel ban on foreign tourists from such counties and the Cabinet is monitoring the global developments in this regard.With effect from tomorrow, no gathering of more then 100 persons is allowed, schools and universities are closed for the next three weeks. Domestic travels are discouraged. Likewise, international travels are discouraged, and non-essential global travel is banned. A number of the country's points of entry are closed down, ports will be subject to strict control, as will be the airports.Businesses, labour unions, and religious organisations are encouraged to work together in the spirit of national solidarity to take care of the nation, especially take care of the vulnerable in the society, minimize social disruptions and curtail the adverse economic impact.Tomorrow, the ministerial committee dealing withe pandemic will brief the nation on the details of the measures announced by the President.