Coronavirus: South African Airways suspends all domestic flights ahead of lockdown

To curb the spread of the deadly Coronavirus and to protect the people from the same, South African Airways (SAA) announced it will suspend all its domestic flights with effect from Friday, March 27 until April 16, 2020. This decision of suspending flights comes after the South Africa government announced a nation-wide lockdown for 21 days aimed at combatting the spread of COVID-19.

Statement by SAA

In a statement, SAA said that it supports this national effort as announced by the government, to retard, contain, manage and disrupt the rate of transmission of the COVID-19. Last Friday, SAA announced the suspension of all intercontinental and Africa regional flights.

All these flights remain suspended until May 31 2020. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a 21-day lockdown from midnight on Thursday in an address to the nation on Monday, as the number of confirmed cases jumped by 128 to 402. On Tuesday, the number climbed to 554.

Before the lockdown, the airlines have decided to provide support to passengers who intend to change their travel plans and commence their journeys before the implementation of the national lockdown. SAA said it is committed to looking after the interests of its customers and will assist customers whose itinerary must change as a result of the lockdown.

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Read:South Africa's Coronavirus Cases Jump Again Above 700

New Coronavirus cases

As the people of South Africa are preparing to go under a complete lockdown, Coronavirus cases in the country jumped again to 709, the health minister said on March 25.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced the new number on state television and pointed out a worrying cluster of cases in Free State province among attendees of a church gathering where five cases were reported. All people had recently travelled abroad. South Africa's lockdown begins on Friday.

Cases across Africa are now well above 2,000. With Libya announcing its first case, 44 of the continent's 54 countries now have the virus. Congo became the latest country to close its borders while reporting its third death.

The sprawling nation has one of Africa's weakest health systems and has been battling another global health emergency, a deadly Ebola virus outbreak in the east. While that outbreak now appears to be within days of being declared over, Congo also faces a large measles outbreak.

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