'Terrified' South Africa nears lockdown; cases almost 1,000
Nqobile Ntshangase | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 7 months AGO
A woman wearing a disposable white beard mask, to protect against coronavirus, stands outside the entrance of a shopping supermarket in Soweto, South Africa, Thursday, March 26, 2020. In just hours, South Africa goes into a nationwide lockdown for 21 days, in an effort to mitigate the spread to the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
A boy wears a mask as a preventative measure against the spread of the new coronavirus, as he navigates a flood of water mixed with garbage following heavy rains, in the Kibera slum, or informal settlement, of Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, March 26, 2020. Many slum residents say staying at home or social-distancing is impossible for those who live hand to mouth and receive daily wages for informal work, as is maintaining sanitation in densely populated areas where a pit latrine can be shared by over 50 people. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
People seeking medical assistance queue outside a local clinic in the township of Soweto, near Johannesburg, South Africa, Thursday March 26, 2020, just hours before South Africa goes into a nationwide lockdown for 21 days, in an effort to control the spread to the coronavirus. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
A woman sells hand sanitizer and gloves at a partially closed shop in the busy Balagun market, while most shops were closed due to a government ban on the operation of non-essential businesses and markets to halt the spread of the new coronavirus, in Lagos, Nigeria Thursday, March 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Ugandan police and other security forces chase people off the streets to avoid unrest, after police cleared a stand of motorcycle taxis which are no longer permitted to operate after all public transport was banned for two weeks to halt the spread of the new coronavirus, in Kampala, Uganda Thursday, March 26, 2020. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Ronald Kabuubi)
A young boy wearing a face mask to protect against coronavirus, with his father stands in a queue to shop in Soweto, South Africa, Thursday, March 26, 2020. In hours South Africa goes into a nationwide lockdown for 21-days in an effort to mitigate the spread to the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Children participate in a coronavirus awareness workshop held at the Qalakabusha center in the township of Soweto, near Johannesburg, South Africa, Thursday March 26, 2020, just hours before South Africa goes into a nationwide lockdown for 21 days, in an effort to control the spread to the coronavirus. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Ugandan police and other security forces chase people off the streets to avoid unrest, after police cleared a stand of motorcycle taxis which are no longer permitted to operate after all public transport was banned for two weeks to halt the spread of the new coronavirus, in Kampala, Uganda Thursday, March 26, 2020. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Ronald Kabuubi)
Traders sell food at a busy market, which are no longer permitted to sell any non-food items in an attempt to halt the spread of the new coronavirus, in Kampala, Uganda Thursday, March 26, 2020. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Ronald Kabuubi)
Jacob Maphala, a taxi marshal wearing a face mask, sprays sanitizer to passengers to protect against coronavirus, at a minibus taxi station in Johannesburg, South Africa, Thursday, March 26, 2020. It is just hours before South Africa goes into a nationwide lockdown for 21-days in an effort to mitigate the spread to the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Women sell bananas in the street, after traders in markets were prohibited from selling any non-food items in an attempt to halt the spread of the new coronavirus, in Kampala, Uganda Thursday, March 26, 2020. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Ronald Kabuubi)
People wearing face masks to protect against coronavirus, walk at a taxi rank in Johannesburg, South Africa, Thursday, March 26, 2020. It is just hours before South Africa goes into a nationwide lockdown for 21-days in an effort to mitigate the spread to the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Children participate in a coronavirus awareness workshop held at the Qalakabusha center in the township of Soweto, near Johannesburg, South Africa, Thursday March 26, 2020, just hours before South Africa goes into a nationwide lockdown for 21 days, in an effort to control the spread to the coronavirus. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
A parking guard stands in the deserted Vilakazi street in the township of Soweto, near Johannesburg, South Africa, Thursday March 26, 2020, just hours before South Africa goes into a nationwide lockdown for 21 days in an effort to mitigate the spread to the coronavirus. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
People wearing face masks walk past closed street stalls and shops due to a government ban on the operation of non-essential businesses and markets to halt the spread of the new coronavirus, in Lagos, Nigeria Thursday, March 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
A woman with her child wearing face masks to protect against coronavirus, walk at a taxi rank in Johannesburg, South Africa, Thursday, March 26, 2020. People are preparing, with just hours before South Africa goes into a nationwide lockdown for 21-days in an effort to mitigate the spread to the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
A street vendor wearing surgical glove, to protect against coronavirus, sells face musks at a minibus taxi station in Johannesburg, South Africa, Thursday, March 26, 2020. South Africa goes into a nationwide lockdown for 21 days in a few hours, in an effort to mitigate the spread to the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa's president appeared in full military uniform for the first time since the end of apartheid and told troops to be a “force of kindness” as a three-week lockdown begins at midnight and they ensure that 57 million people stay home. The mission is the "most important in the history of our country" as coronavirus cases near 1,000, the highest in Africa.
“Our people are terrified right now and we should not do anything to make their situation worse,” President Cyril Ramaphosa told police earlier Thursday. “Psychologically they are already scared that they could get the virus, lose income, lose jobs, get sick without medication.”
Anxiety has been especially high for low-income South Africans squeezed into townships, sometimes with an extended family sharing a shack of corrugated metal and little income. Fears of an increase in domestic violence and rape have been expressed by civil society groups. And economic pain is widespread, with a recession and unemployment at 29%. South Africa remains one of the world's most unequal countries a quarter-century after the racist apartheid system ended in 1994.
“I have even resorted to selling face masks so as I can be able to raise money and return to my homeland outside (Johannesburg),” said street vendor Dinko Seroka, as people lined up to take buses to more rural areas. “As you can see here, everyone is leaving for their homelands, and if I stay behind I don’t know how I’m going to survive.”
South Africa has 927 virus cases, with no reported deaths. Africa’s total cases are now 3,037 with South Africa’s latest cases added to the toll of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Forty-six of the continent’s 54 countries have the virus.
South Africa’s lockdown is one of the world’s strictest, with alcohol sales, running and dog-walking banned. Citizens should expect to be sober for 21 days, authorities have said, but sales at liquor stores were brisk on Thursday. Borders have closed except for transport of essential goods.
Without naming countries, the World Health Organization regional chief for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, told reporters that “draconian” restrictions must include strong public health measures to truly contain the virus’ spread. Humanitarian corridors might be needed as well, she said.
The window is “narrowing every day” but there's still a chance to contain the virus' spread in many countries, Moeti said. About half of African nations with the virus have only imported cases from abroad.
More countries are expected to impose lockdowns. On Thursday, the president of Botswana, who has been in self-isolation as a precaution after a weekend trip to Namibia, told citizens to “Please prepare yourselves" for an imminent one.
Rwanda locked down over the weekend, and police denied that two people shot dead had been killed for defying the new measures. Police spokesman John Bosco Kabera said the two were riding a motorbike on Monday in the south when they were stopped by an officer and attacked him, prompting his colleague to fire in self-defense.
In Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, streets were empty while authorities used megaphones to urge people to stay indoors. The government has promised to provide food to vulnerable people.
“I ask our government to please have a good heart for your people during these difficult times,” shopper Jacqueline Murekatete said as officers wearing face masks and gloves instructed people at a market how to stand in line.
“We need to eat and we are desperate for your help. Now we have two pandemics. We have hunger and we have the coronavirus, and our hunger is the new pandemic we are faced with. This is just dreadful.”
In Uganda, police with guns and sticks enforced a new two-week ban on public transport. Gunfire rang out in one street in the capital, Kampala, as officers chased people and roughed up suspects accused of defying the president’s orders.
Elsewhere, Nigeria said it would ban travel between its states in Africa’s most populous country. Eritrea closed schools and public transport. Kenya reported its first death. And Somalia, with one of the world’s most fragile health systems after nearly three decades of conflict, reported its second virus case.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
African officials have showed varying levels of sensitivity to their own health measures. While South Africa’s president said he tested negative for the virus as a precaution, some people in Kenya were appalled after national health officials met to discuss the coronavirus and then shared a group photo — with people standing shoulder-to-shoulder.
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Rodney Muhumuza in Kampala, Uganda; Ignatius Ssuuna in Kigali, Rwanda and Cara Anna in Johannesburg contributed.
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Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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