{"id":404917,"date":"2021-07-05T19:54:51","date_gmt":"2021-07-05T17:54:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=404917"},"modified":"2021-07-05T20:00:55","modified_gmt":"2021-07-05T18:00:55","slug":"level-4-lockdown-will-be-extended-economist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/trending\/404917-level-4-lockdown-will-be-extended-economist.html","title":{"rendered":"Level 4 lockdown will be extended – economist"},"content":{"rendered":"

The government will most likely extend the two-week adjusted level four lockdown regulations as Covid-19 cases in South Africa continue to rise.<\/p>\n

This is the view of Hugo Pienaar<\/strong><\/a>, chief economist at the bureau for economic research at Stellenbosch University.<\/p>\n

Pienaar said that when President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the move to level four on 27 June 2021, the seven-day rolling average of new daily coronavirus cases was around 15,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday, the seven-day rolling average was 19,100 and health experts tell us we are yet to reach the peak,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIrrespective of the dire impact on the hospitality, liquor, and aviation sectors, the state of the pandemic will make it very hard to relax the regulations by Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pienaar said the fact that an agreement has been reached to extend the Covid-19 Temporary Employer\/Employee Relief Scheme (Ters) to employees affected by the level 4 lockdown gives a hint that the regulations will be extended beyond the initial two weeks.<\/p>\n

The Ters will allow workers in industries affected by the lockdown to get part of their salary during this period.<\/p>\n

Pienaar highlighted that South Africa has been in a similar situation during the second wave when harsher restrictions were kept in place longer than initially planned.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very much in the same situation as then with the new variant driving cases,\u201d Pienaar said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are speculating, but if we throw all of this together, I think an extension is on the cards.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Daily<\/a><\/p>\n

Last week, South Africa recorded its highest ever number<\/strong><\/a> of new daily Covid-19 cases \u2013 26,485 \u2013 with a positivity rate of 27.3%.<\/p>\n

The Gauteng province accounts for the majority of new cases (61%), followed by the Western Cape (11%) and Limpopo (7%) provinces.<\/p>\n

The increase in coronavirus cases came a week after President Cyril Ramaphosa placed the country under stricter lockdown.<\/p>\n

Experts pointed out that the impact of the lockdown will only be felt this week as people only start to show symptoms a few days after they contract the virus.<\/p>\n

The chart below provides an overview of the average daily positive Covid-19 cases per week, which Pienaar referred to.<\/p>\n

\"Daily<\/a><\/p>\n

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Hugo Pienaar Interview<\/h3>\n