South Africa begins easing lockdown restrictions

From Friday, South Africa will begin to ease some of its coronavirus restrictions, following five weeks of lockdown.

Families will be allowed to leave the home to exercise, restaurants will be able to deliver food, and some businesses will be allowed to reopen.

However, the sale of alcohol and cigarettes will still be banned and the government is set to deploy more troops to the streets to enforce an overnight curfew. 

South Africa has imposed some of the continent’s most stringent measures to contain the pandemic, accompanied by rigorous testing which aims to screen 30,000 people daily.

Just over 100 South Africans are confirmed to have died from Covid-19 but the lockdown has had a devastating effect on the economy, which was already experiencing the beginnings of a recession. 

South Africa’s national airline, SAA, is believed to be just days away from liquidation, and the country now faces a growing risk of hunger and widespread frustration. 

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