South Africa’s national state of disaster will be extended until mid-December, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Wednesday evening as he announced normal alcohol trading hours would be allowed along with flights from all foreign nations to support an economic recovery.

Ramaphosa cautioned at the same time that the number of Covid-19 infections in the Eastern Cape had shown an alarming increase of 145 percent in the last fortnight.

Hence the government would implement its resurgence strategy, and redouble community health interventions in Nelson Mandela Bay metro and other hotspots in the Eastern Cape, the president said.

“Interventions include primary health care outreach teams to intensify contact tracing, daily community mobilisation, ensuring the readiness of health facilities, and being ready to respond to possible clusters outbreaks.”

Ramaphosa said unless the rapid increase in transmission in the province was contained, it would be “a matter of time” before it spread to the Western Cape and the rest of the country.

He pointed to the reintroduction of tough lockdown restrictions in Europe and pleaded with South Africans to avoid a second wave locally by respecting health protocols and refraining from behaviour that could trigger a transmission rates surge.

“I’m asking you to do what we all know must be done,” the visibly tired president said.

“I have been increasingly getting concerned and alarmed by what I have been seeing on social media and even on television where people are holding big parties, gatherings and social events as though the virus does not exist.”

Ramaphosa said South Africa’s only salvation after a year of sadness wrought by the pandemic was to rebuild an economy battered by the health crisis.

“The only way forward is a rapid and sustained economic.”

To this end, the weekend and after hours restrictions on alcohol trade would be lifted and the country’s borders would be reopened to travel from all countries, albeit it with Covid-19 precautions in place.

In a relief to the workforce, he confirmed that the special Covid-19 Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme had run its course.

“We recognise that some industries are still not able to operate fully and that it will take some time for many jobs to return.

“That is why we extended the Special Covid-19 Grant for a further three months, until January 2021,“ he said, adding that this would give income support to some six million unemployed people.

“Following extensive discussions with our social partners, the UIF will extend the Covid-19 UIF Ters benefit scheme by another month, to 15 October 2020.“

The decision follows intense lobbying from the labour movement.

Ramaphosa said the first evidence this week that an effective Covid-19 vaccine may have been found, brought new hope to the world and to South Africa.

“This changes our perspective of the future of the coronavirus pandemic. This development brings new hope in our fight against this virus.”

But he struck a sombre note in calling on the nation to honour and remember the 20,011 people who succumbed to the disease in South Africa.

Many of us have had to bid farewell to a loved one, a friend or a colleague.

“As we look back on a year of much pain and sorrow, it is important as a nation that we should honour and remember all those who have succumbed to this disease.”

Cabinet has decided to declare five days of national mourning from November 25 to 29.

“We will let the national flag fly at half-mast throughout the country from 6am to 6pm from Wednesday 25 November to Sunday 29 November.

“We call upon all South Africans to wear a black armband or other signs of mourning to signify our respect for those who have departed.”