The president announced last night that from midnight on Thursday, March 26, until midnight on Thursday, April 16, the country will be locked down.

That’s 21 days of staying indoors except under exceptional circumstances.

While this is going to be a trying time, it’s important to remember that the lockdown is a necessary measure to flatten the curve and get a handle on the coronavirus pandemic in South Africa.

If you want to track the spread of the coronavirus, these four resources are a great place to start.

The presidency released a series of useful infographics to explain things and to help you prepare:

Other countries have employed a ‘one person at a time’ policy, which would be useful here. If you need to go to the shops, don’t make it a family outing wherever possible.

There is currently no vaccine or 100% effective treatment for the virus which has affected the elderly and the immune-compromised most severely.

Therefore, a lockdown is the most efficient way to get things under control.

You will not be able to visit bars or restaurants, go for a walk, visit friends and family or go to work, unless you’re in one of the exempt professions.

TimesLIVE reports that the following people will be exempt:

• health workers in the public and private sectors;
• emergency personnel;
• those in security services – such as the police, traffic officers, military medical personnel, soldiers – and other persons necessary for our response to the pandemic;
• those involved in the production, distribution and supply of food and basic goods;
• essential banking services;
• the maintenance of power, water and telecommunications services;
• laboratory services;
• and those in the provision of medical and hygiene products.

All businesses and shops will be closed except for the following:

• pharmacies;
• laboratories;
• banks;
• essential financial and payment services, including the Johannesburg Stock Exchange;
• supermarkets;
• petrol stations;
• and healthcare providers.

Restaurants are not exempt and will be forced to shut down. That means no Uber Eats or Mr D or other food delivery services from restaurants, either. More here.

If it’s possible for your company to operate with your employees working remotely, you are encouraged to continue operations.

For more information, read the Mail & Guardian’s detailed breakdown of all critical services and businesses exempt from the lockdown.

An emergency falls under the banner of “exceptional circumstances”. As previously stated, hospitals and other emergency services will remain operational.

For guidance on how to register as an essential business during the lockdown, read this.

Small business owners can also find Marnus Broodryk’s free COVID-19 business survival guide here, which contains some great advice on how to weather this storm.

Do not ‘panic buy’ over the next few days. We are not going to run out of food and other resources. It’s also important to remember that over the next two days while public transport is still running, people living in townships and areas with limited access to shops and pharmacies will need to stock up on goods.

If you empty the shelves, they will be left with limited resources to tide them over.

This is important. You will not be allowed to leave your home except under strict circumstances, such as to buy food, seek medical care, buy medicine and other supplies or collect a social grant.

No booze, no dog walking, no jogging – read this for further information.

The lockdown is not a suggestion, it’s the law. If you violate the rules of the lockdown, you could find yourself in jail. The National Defence force will be working with SAPS to ensure that the lockdown is implemented correctly.

News24  with the measures that have been put in place to sustain the economy.

• Any employee who falls ill through exposure at their workplace will be paid through the Compensation Fund
• A tax subsidy of up to R500 per month will kick in for the next four months for private sector employees earning below R6 500

Nicky Oppenheimer and Johann Rupert will donate R1 billion each to help bolster the economy. The money will be used to help South African small businesses and their employees.

Those donations also form part of a new Solidarity Response Fund, that will try to lessen the impact of the novel coronavirus and focus efforts to combat the spread of the virus.

You can find information on how to donate to that fund here.

The Department of Small Business Development has also launched a debt relief fund, aimed at providing relief on existing debts and repayments. For those looking to apply for temporary relief, head here.

If you want to know more about how to apply for TERS (temporary employee/ employer relief scheme), read this. 

Sadly, Eskom can offer no guarantee that load shedding will not continue – more info here.

Finally, international flights to Lanseria Airport will be temporarily suspended, South African citizens travelling in from high-risk countries will be quarantined for 14 days, and non-South Africans arriving on flights from high-risk countries will be turned back.

Here’s a useful list of all essential contacts:

One last thing from the President:

“This is a decisive measure to save millions of South Africans from infection and save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.”

I think we can all get behind that.

[sources:news24&timeslive&enca]