President Cyril Ramaphosa has officially moved lockdown to level 1.
He made this announcement while he addressed the nation on Sunday.
The decision by Ramaphosa and the National Coronavirus Command Council was driven by a drop in Covid-19 infections of the past two weeks.
The president said based on an assessment of the current state of the pandemic in the country, Cabinet decided earlier today to move the country from Coronavirus Alert Level 3 to Alert 1.
“The country has now clearly emerged from the second wave,” Ramaphosa said.
He also stated that the new level will take effect immediately once the regulations have been gazetted.
Here are some of what he said in his speech:
- The hours of the curfew will now be from 12 midnight to 4am.
- Gatherings will be permitted, subject to limitations on size, adherence to social distancing and other health protocols.
- These include religious, social, political and cultural gatherings.
- The maximum number of people allowed at any gathering is 100 people indoors or 250 people outdoors.
- Where the venue is too small to accommodate these numbers with appropriate social distancing, then no more than 50 percent of the capacity of the venue may be used.
- Night vigils or other gatherings before or after funerals are still not permitted.
- Nightclubs will remain closed.
- The sale of alcohol will be permitted, according to normal licence provisions. However, no alcohol may be sold during the hours of curfew.
- The wearing of masks in public places is still mandatory, and failure to wear a mask when required remains a criminal offence.
- The 33 land border posts that have been closed throughout this period will remain closed, while the other 20 will remain open.
- Only five airports will be open for international travel with standard infection control measures. These are OR Tambo, Cape Town, King Shaka, Kruger Mpumalanga and Lanseria airports.
