Ramaphosa said in an address to the nation that South Africa needed to escalate its response dramatically to curb the spread of infection. Ramaphosa said health workers, emergency personnel and security services would be among those exempt from the lockdown. Soldiers will be deployed to support the police, and international travellers who arrived in South Africa after Mar 9 from "high-risk" countries will be confined to their hotels until they have completed a 14-day period of quarantine. South Africa has the most confirmed cases of coronavirus in sub-Saharan Africa and public health experts are worried that it could overwhelm the health system if infection rates continue to rise. Kenya's confirmed coronavirus cases rose by one to 16, while Senegal's tally rose by 12 to 79.

Source: bd News24 March 24, 2020 08:26 UTC