Lesotho became the latest southern African country to ease lockdown restrictions when it allowed businesspersons to “temporarily open shop” starting on Wednesday, 6 May 2020 although the country’s borders would remain closed.
In a televised address on Tuesday night, Prime Minister Thomas Thabane announced that the coronavirus lockdown would be tentatively lifted from Wednesday to allow “all non-essential services and enterprises” to operate.
The southern African kingdom has been on a nationwide lockdown since 29 March 2020.
As part of the relaxation of lockdown restrictions, all Basotho would be expected to wear face masks while in public place, Thabane said.
“The government is closely monitoring the situation,” he said.
The premier said all border crossing points would remain closed until further notice and warned that the government would beef up patrols to contain the rising number of illegal crossings.
Despite being completely surrounded by South Africa, Lesotho is yet to report a single case of Covid-19, making it one of the few countries in the world that has not been affected by a pandemic that has so far infected more than three-point-seven million people worldwide and claimed almost two-hundred and sixty thousand lives.
Its neighbour has however Africa’s highest number of confirmed cases, at seven-thousand seven-hundred and fifty-two cases and one-hundred and fourty eight deaths as of Wednesday.
Other southern African countries that have eased lockdown restrictions include South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
– APA
