President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Sunday begin with a consultation with business leaders at the Union Buildings.
The engagement with business forms part of a series of meetings the President has held with various stakeholder constituencies including communities of faith and the nation’s political leadership.
According to the statement, leaders will have an opportunity to outline the impact of the disaster on businesses and the economy at large and engage recommendations to mitigate the impact of the outbreak on the economy at large.
The president has recently announced a raft of measures to control the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic including travel bans, restricted size of social gatherings and closure of various sea and land ports.
Presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko says, “The leaders who will see the President today did not have an opportunity at the meeting at Parliament to deliver statements of support and will therefore do so today with media present.”
#COVID19 President @CyrilRamaphosa will address the nation in a message that will be broadcast on radio, television, and online livestreams. Please note that the time at which the President will address will be determined by the time his meetings conclude. #CoronaVirusSA pic.twitter.com/KJ5JnRq5o3
— Presidency | South Africa ?? (@PresidencyZA) March 22, 2020
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Thursday, at a joint media briefing with the South African Medical Association (SAMA), that South Africa needs more COVID-19 test kits as they need to increase capacity so that they can test as many people as possible.
#COVID19 Later in the day the President will chair a meeting of the National Command Council which will receive an update on the #coronavirus outbreak, progress & challenges related to implementation of the recently promulgated regulations on the state of disaster
— Presidency | South Africa ?? (@PresidencyZA) March 22, 2020
“We are looking at how to increase the testing capabilities so that we can test as many people as possible. We have been talking about it that at this point we’ve just probably got about 1 200 tests and this 150 comes from that number, but we now need to start being ready to test a couple of thousands per day and secondly, we need to also be able to increase capability to have what we call drive-by testing and mobile testing capacity as it were.”
The Minister said about 60%-70% of South Africans will be affected by the virus.
In the video below, Minister Zweli Mkhize calls for unity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Anyone that creates or spreads fake news about COVID-19 is liable for prosecution.
Anyone that creates or spreads fake news about COVID-19 is liable for prosecution. #COVID19 #FakeNews #CoronaVirusSA pic.twitter.com/XXla2Fk8OS
— Presidency | South Africa ?? (@PresidencyZA) March 19, 2020
