Chairperson of the COVID-19 Ministerial Advisory Committee, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, says after the reported decline of coronavirus infections, South Africa is ready to move to Alert Level 1 of the lockdown.
The country has recorded 956 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours.
The number of COVID-19 related fatalities has increased by 52, bringing the national death toll to 15 499, as outlined in the graphic below:
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The country has seen fewer hospital admissions and a decline in bed occupancy for COVID-19 patients.
However, Professor Karim says it’s important to get used to the new normal as things can never be the same again.
“I think we could be really talking about moving beyond levels and moving to a situation where we can get to a point of being under the new normal. Because we have to take the view that we’re not gonna get back to our old normal, so we’re gonna have to figure out what the new normal is, because that’s what we gonna have to have in place for a long time until we have a vaccine. And part of that new normal will be getting on much of what we do normally, but with taking into account our prevention strategies and with certain restrictions.”
In the audio below, Professor Karim gives an update on the country’s COVID-19 status:
INFOGRAPHIC: An overview of what COVID-19 level one lockdown will entail:
