lockdown - The African Mirror

Aug

2020

Homes to policing: Lockdown photos document South Africa inequality

KIM HARRISBERG A security officer holds a shotgun against his body in inner-city Johannesburg, eyeing a homeless man carrying a bag of food on his shoulders as he vacates the area. The photo captures one of a multitude of everyday inequalities that South African photographer Gulshan Khan has been documenting during the coronavirus pandemic. From heavy-handed policing to abandoned buildings-turned-homeless shelters, Khan is using her online following and recent international awards recognition to spotlight the spatial and racial divide across the country. "Race classification and segregation under apartheid demolished so much of our rich heritage and my photography interrogates the…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

“There’s light in the horizon but difficult days lie ahead”

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA IT has been an immensely difficult five months, and the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll – on the health of our people, on families and communities, on the public health system, on the economy and on people’s everyday lives. During this difficult period what all of us have longed for as South Africans most of all is to be healthy, restore our livelihoods and rebuild our economy. We are making progress in our fight against COVID-19. Over the last three weeks, the number of new confirmed cases has dropped from a peak of over 12 000…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

COVID-19 RELIEF: South Africans can now buy alcohol and tobacco

NEWS

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER After five months of tough national lockdown rules, South Africa is to drastically reduce COVID-19 restrictions and allow increased economic and social activity. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that the country would move to level two under the National State of Disaster, which was declared after the onset of COVID-19. A total of 11 667 South Africans have died from COVID-19. Ramaphosa said, among others, low infection rates, declining admission to hospitals and the high rate of recoveries has allowed for the lifting of some restrictions from midnight on Monday. This will allow for: Alcohol…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

South African speakeasies boost calls for end to COVID booze ban

COVID-19

TANISHA HEIDEBERG and EMMA RUMNEY IN an Italian bistro in an upmarket Johannesburg neighbourhood, smiling patrons chat at candle-lit tables in a scene reminiscent of less-troubled times before the COVID-19 pandemic. But there's no alcohol on the menu. Instead, diners order red or white "coffee" served in grey mugs, the tell-tale sign of a modern-day South African speakeasy. Under one of the world's strictest lockdowns, South Africa banned alcohol to lower hospital admissions for injuries from drink-related violence and accidents and ease the burden on healthworkers facing the worst coronavirus outbreak in Africa. But businesses from wine makers to restaurants…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

COVID-19 cases slow in South African hotspot provinces, minister says

COVID-19

THREE South African provinces considered coronavirus hotspots have seen new infections slow in recent weeks, though it is too early to say whether the country's peak has passed, the health minister said on Wednesday. South Africa has the world's fifth highest number of infections, with cases passing 500,000 over the weekend, despite a strict lockdown since late March. On Wednesday the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it was sending a "surge team" of 43 experts to the country to help the Health Ministry with "surveillance and streamlining of epidemiological systems and WHO global COVID-19 response guidelines". Financial hub Gauteng, tourist…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Uganda’s tough approach curbs COVID-19, even as Africa nears a million cases

NEWS

ELIAS BIRYABAREMA UGANDA's crumbling public hospitals, doctors' strikes and corruption scandals make its success in the fight against the new coronavirus all the more unlikely. But the nation of 42 million people has recorded just over 1,200 cases and five deaths since March, a strikingly low total for such a large country. As the number of cases in Africa approaches one million, Uganda's experience shows what can be accomplished when a government with a firm grip on power acts quickly and enforces a strict lockdown. But its success came at a cost, critics say. Jobs were lost, and economic growth…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Namibia to close schools, limit public gatherings as COVID-19

COVID-19

NAMIBIAN schools will be suspended for the second time in four months next week, while limits on public gatherings will be tightened further to 100 from 250 amid surging cases, President Hage Geingob said. In a televised speech on Friday, Geingob said the decision to suspend schools from Aug. 4 for 28 days came after considering the risks associated with the spread of the virus. The measure affects early childhood development, pre-primary, primary and the first two grades of high school. Namibia has 2,129 confirmed cases and 10 deaths with the country's rate of daily new cases now the fourth…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Libya to impose full lockdown as pandemic cases grow

COVID-19

LIBYA's internationally recognised government in Tripoli will impose a full lockdown in areas of the country it controls, it said on Thursday, after a sharp rise in coronavirus cases. Libya, split since 2014 between areas held by the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli and a rival administration in the east, managed to avoid an early surge of the pandemic. However, the disease has been spreading more quickly this month and Libya's National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), one of the few bodies that operates across the country despite the conflict, has confirmed 3,222 cases. Libya's health system is…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Botswana reinstates coronavirus lockdown in capital for two weeks

COVID-19

BOTSWANA's capital city Gaborone has returned to a two-week lockdown from midnight to stem the latest local coronavirus surge in the country, an official said. Under new rules for the capital and surrounding areas, only essential workers would be able to leave home for work, with others only able to leave the house to buy groceries. All gatherings will be banned and hotels, restaurants, gyms and schools will close. Botswana ended a national lockdown on June 15, allowing businesses and schools to reopen under strict conditions, as the country was recording most of its cases at border points from truck…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Morocco shuts down major cities after spike in coronavirus cases

COVID-19

MOROCCO will stop people entering and leaving some of its biggest cities from midnight to contain a surge in COVID-19 cases, the interior and health Ministries has announced. The cities to be locked down include the economic powerhouse of Casablanca as well as Tangier, Marrakech, Fez and Meknes. The country eased a nationwide lockdown a month ago, though international flights are still suspended except special flights by national airlines carrying Moroccans or foreign residents. On Sunday, the health ministry said 633 new COVID-19 cases were recorded, one of the biggest daily rises so far, bringing the total number of confirmed…