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UPDATE 3-South Africa to impose 21-day lockdown as coronavirus cases jump

Published 23/03/2020, 20:48
Updated 23/03/2020, 20:54

* South African coronavirus cases rise to 402
* Ramaphosa tightens restrictions on movement
* Army deployed to support police
* Other African governments close borders

(Adds detail on rest of Africa)
By Tanisha Heiberg and Alexander Winning
JOHANNESBURG, March 23 (Reuters) - South Africa will impose
a nationwide lockdown for 21 days from midnight on Thursday to
try to contain the coronavirus outbreak, President Cyril
Ramaphosa said on Monday, as the number of confirmed cases
jumped by 128 to 402.
Ramaphosa said in an address to the nation that South Africa
needed to escalate its response dramatically to curb the spread
of infection.
"From midnight on Thursday 26 March until midnight on
Thursday 16 April, all South Africans will have to stay at
home," Ramaphosa said.
People will still be able to go out to seek medical care,
buy food or collect a social grant.
"While this measure will have a considerable impact on
people's livelihoods, on the life of our society and on our
economy, the human cost of delaying this action would be far,
far greater."
Ramaphosa said health workers, emergency personnel and
security services would be among those exempt from the lockdown.
All shops and businesses will be closed except for
pharmacies, laboratories, banks, the Johannesburg Stock
Exchange, supermarkets, petrol stations and healthcare
providers.
Soldiers will be deployed to support the police, and
international travellers who arrived in South Africa after March
9 from "high-risk" countries will be confined to their hotels
until they have completed a 14-day period of quarantine.
Furnaces and underground miners will be required to make
arrangements for care and maintenance, which means operations
stop but are kept in a condition to resume in future.
Ramaphosa said a first phase of the government's economic
response would include assisting businesses in distress and a
package of more than 3 billion rand ($170 million) of funding
for industrial firms.
South Africa has the most confirmed cases of coronavirus in
sub-Saharan Africa and public health experts are worried that it
could overwhelm the health system if infection rates continue to
rise.
The president earlier this month declared a national state
of disaster over the virus, imposing travel bans affecting
countries like China, Germany, Britain and the United States.
CLOSURES
Elsewhere on the continent, Zimbabwe closed all its borders
to human traffic except returning residents after reporting its
first death from the coronavirus.
The government also banned public gatherings indefinitely.
Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, closed its land
borders after also registering its first death. Ethiopia also
closed its land borders. Kenya's confirmed coronavirus cases rose by one to 16, while
Senegal's tally rose by 12 to 79.
African finance ministers also called for a $100 billion
stimulus package, including a suspension of debt service
payments. ($1 = 17.68 rand)

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