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It can’t be easy having to serve as our ‘pandemic president’, and Cyril Ramaphosa once again faces some tough choices in the days to come. The 69-year-old – who initially showed restraint in his response to the Omicron outbreak during the last ‘family meeting’ – is now setting up to tighten lockdown laws across South Africa.
Although nothing has been confirmed yet, it’s understood the level of discussions behind the scenes have been ramped up in the last few days.
There are some encouraging signs that SA can deal with the spread of this new variant, but with the height of our festive season approaching, the president is weighing up some additional measures.
Gathering sizes and alcohol sales could be targeted this week, and they’re always the first key areas targeted by the government in the face of swelling infections.
It’s not thought things will go much further than that, but a shift into Level 2 regulations hasn’t been ruled out. So, when will Cyril Ramaphosa host his next family meeting to drop these bombshells on us?
Well, we know that the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) will meet as early as Tuesday 14 December, with discussions to be concluded by Wednesday 15 December. It’s likely that the conclusion of these crunch talks will see Ramaphosa consult with provincial leaders, before announcing an address to the nation.
A family meeting BEFORE Thursday 16 December is therefore quite likely, with Ramaphosa mindful that this date is a public holiday. Next week will also see millions of citizens hit the road for their festive travel plans.
Sadly, it looks like COVID-19 will dictate how many of us spend our Christmases, for the second year running. Although the days of hard lockdowns are behind us, stringent measures may still be needed between now and the New Year to help put a leash on the Omicron variant. Oh, how we wish it was 2019 again…
Omicron is behaving exactly like the normal flu: highly infectious but mainly mild symptoms. So at what stage do we stop all the political drama and get on with life???
— Michele (@Michele71370115) December 11, 2021