President Cyril Ramaphosa will next week update South Africans on the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu said on Thursday.
Mthembu told a post-Cabinet media briefing Ramaphosa’s address would be preceded by a meeting of the National Coronavirus Command Council, followed by another Cabinet meeting.
He said it was premature to speculate whether Ramaphosa would announce new measures to contain transmission of the virus.
The president would be guided by the advice of experts conveyed to the command council, which groups Cabinet ministers.
“The president will take the nation into his confidence, can we allow the president to take us into his confidence?” he said in response to questions about a potential tightening of restrictions in response to the health crisis.
According to figures given by the Ministry of Health on Wednesday, 2,056 new infections were recorded in the previous 24 hours.
As several European nations contend with a second surge in infections and return to lockdown restrictions, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has repeatedly warned that South Africa faced a risk of a new spike in cases.
South Africa currently remains at the lowest alert level of the country’s lockdown.