Cape Town – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to address the nation on Sunday on developments in the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement, the presidency said Ramaphosa’s address will be at 20:00.
The president is expected to announce changes to alert levels. This comes after he held meetings with the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC), the President’s Co-ordinating Council and Cabinet.
Scientists confirmed on Thursday that a new variant had been detected in the country.
A number of countries have imposed travel bans on South Africa after the discovery of the new variant.
PRESIDENT RAMAPHOSA TO ADDRESS THE NATION ON SUNDAY, 28 NOVEMBER 2021
President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation at 20h00 today, Sunday, 28 November 2021, on developments in the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
— Presidency | South Africa ?? (@PresidencyZA) November 28, 2021
Britain was the first to slap a flight ban from countries in southern Africa, just hours after South Africa revealed it had detected the variant which has multiple mutations.
Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the US among others on Friday joined Britain in restricting flights from the region.
The European Commission, the executive arm of the 27-nation European Union, also proposed a complete suspension of flights to and from southern Africa until there was a ‘clear understanding about the danger’ posed by the new variant.
However, the UN’s World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday urged against travel curbs at this stage.
South Africa has the highest pandemic numbers in Africa, notching up around 2.95 million cases, of which 89 657 have been fatal.
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Additional reporting by AFP
