Economists: Lockdown Relief Could Follow

According to analysts at Stellenbosch University’s Bureau for Economic Research (BER), if new COVID-19 cases continue to decline, this should enable the government to soon provide relief to the country’s hardest-hit sectors due to lockdown.

The Department of Health’s statistical data has shown a steady decline in Covid-19 numbers since the first week of January, leading many analysts to believe that South Africa has reached its peak of the second wave.

The BER said: “With the rate of new hospital admissions also falling, the reduction in new cases is most welcome, both from a public health and economic perspective.”

This could lead to support to the hospitality and liquor industries by moving back to a lower level of lockdown and thus fewer restrictions on mobility and economic activity.

The BER also added that vaccines cannot come soon enough after health experts have cautioned that as the second wave slows down, there is a high probability that South Africa will suffer a third wave of infections.