- South Africa has been under lockdown for 100 days, although initially it was going to last only 21 days.
- The ban on alcohol and cigarettes made headlines, but so did rotisserie chicken and flip-flops.
- We take a look back at the last 100 days in a quick six-minute video recap.
South Africa reached its 100th day of lockdown at the weekend and it’s clear that Covid-19 has drastically altered the way we live.
Back in April, South Africa’s chief coronavirus scientist, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, told News24 that South Africans will not be able to return to their normal way of doing things.
“Our lives, when we go back after this lockdown, are simply not going to be the same,” he said.
The lockdown, implemented at midnight 26 March, was meant to last only 21 days.
READ | Covid-19: Another hard lockdown is possible, warns Mkhize
“This is a decisive measure to save millions of South Africans from infection, and save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said in an address to the nation.
After roughly two weeks, Ramaphosa pressed reboot and extended the lockdown by another two weeks.
Borders closed, and remain closed. South Africans were restricted from leaving their homes. Streets emptied out, and physical distancing was enforced.
Norm
Slowly, wearing a face mask in public became the norm. Hot food and flip-flops made headlines. So did the ban on alcohol and cigarettes.
Meanwhile, the country’s poor said it is hunger that will kill them, not the virus.
We were locked down on Freedom Day, but gained some measure of freedom on Worker’s Day, 1 May, when the country eased into lockdown Level 4.
A month later on 1 June, we were downgraded to Level 3.
But still, all is far from “normal”.
The pandemic has now claimed over half a million lives worldwide and more than 11 million confirmed infections have been recorded.
South Africa currently has 196 750 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with 3 199 deaths.
We take a look back at the last 100 days in a quick six-minute video recap.
