COVID-19

About COVID-19

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a new virus.

The disease causes respiratory illness (like the flu) with symptoms such as a cough, fever, and in more severe cases, difficulty breathing. You can protect yourself by washing your hands frequently, avoiding touching your face, and avoiding close contact (1 meter or 3 feet) with people who are unwell.

HOW IT SPREADS

Coronavirus disease spreads primarily through contact with an infected person when they cough or sneeze. It also spreads when a person touches a surface or object that has the virus on it, then touches their eyes, nose, or mouth.

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CASES ON COVID-19 IN THE KINGDOM

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13 March, 2020

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PM announces partial lockdown

COVID-19 Update

COVID-19 Business Guidelines

GOVERNMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF ESWATINI

PRIME MINISTER’S STATEMENT

COVID-19 RESPONSE ADDITIONAL MEASURES

His Majesty King Mswati III and Ingwenyama has commanded Government to introduce a partial lockdown on selected sectors of the economy to curtail the spread of coronavirus with effect from 27 March 2020. His Majesty emphasises that the economy must continue to be strong and robust to ensure that the partial lockdown does not ground the Kingdom.

The increasing number of confirmed cases in the country calls for all of us to be vigilant and responsible in all our actions in order to quickly turn the tide against this rampaging virus. His Majesty has therefore commanded that the King’s birthday Resource Mobilisation Committee should now fundraise for COVID-19.

Through the counsel of His Majesty, Government has established Emergency coordination structures that will implement the COVID-19 Emergency Plan. These committees include a Cabinet sub-committee, Emergency Task Force, Regional and Sector Committees. They have now hit the ground running, working on effective response measures to contain the spread of the virus across our communities. May I pass my gratitude to the Deputy Prime Minister and all members of these committees for their devotion and dedication to this cause. I applaud all EmaSwati who continue to heed to health precautions to combat coronavirus and adhere to measures introduced by Government to curb the spread of this pandemic. My gratitude all goes to all the companies that have poured in resources to support the fight against COVID-19.

The partial lockdown that is being introduced today entails the following:

1. From Friday 27 March 2020, for 20 days, all unnecessary movements and visits outside the perimeters of your home or residence are restricted except to provide or acquire essential services such as healthcare, food, or banking services, and for the personnel performing such services.

2. We encourage all employers to allow as many employees as possible to work from home.

3. Essential Industries are expected to continue operating while observing the proper hygiene standards that will protect employees from the pandemic. Government will engage further to ensure that proper hygiene measures are complied with. The Ministry of Commerce will provide guidance on which industries fall under essential services.

4. Following the announcement by the South African Government of a lockdown, Government advises that only goods and cargo as well as returning citizens and legal residents will be allowed through our borders. Returning citizens and residents will be subjected to a mandatory 14 days quarantine at designated locations except for those who are able to self-isolate.

5. Non essential travel between towns, cities and regions of the country is not permitted, except for medical reasons or to provide or acquire essential services. Transport of food and goods will be allowed.

6. Employers need to ensure that worker density in the workplace is not more than one person per square metre. Employers are expected to provide facilities for employees to wash their hands before entering the workplace, every two hours and upon leaving the workplace.

7. Electronic payments and online banking services should be used, where possible, rather than physically visiting banks or ATMs. Elderly grants shall be disbursed through electronic payment system henceforth.

8. Public transport will only operate for essential movement and with one (1) meter distance between passengers.

9. All bars are closed. Bottle stores will be allowed to operate from 11am – 6pm on Mondays to Saturdays. Police will be vigilant in closing illegal drinking spots and shebeens.

10. In all food outlets and banks, the public is restricted to 20 individuals and a distance of 1-2 meters between each other.

11. All public gatherings of more than 20 people are prohibited. For purpose of this paragraph, public gatherings include but not limited to: religious activities, sports events, conferences, wedding celebrations, music concerts, parties, gymnasiums, or other activities or place where the public gathers.

12. Food and goods will be allowed across borders

13. The army and the police will be deployed to ensure compliance with all these measures. Chiefs and traditional authorities will take a leading role in enforcing these measures in their communities.

14. Government is fast tracking regulations that will enforce stiff penalties on would be defaulters.

Government fully understands that the global spread of COVID-19 has caused anxiety and, in some instances, panic. May I appeal that we all take this threat seriously and follow international best practice and advice from the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to slow the spread of the virus. We must avoid unnecessary panic as the situation will be normalised if each citizen continues to play their role and abide by these measures and health precautions.

Government understands that the introduction of these measures may cause some inconvenience, and hurt the economy but the safety and health of all EmaSwati is the ultimate priority. Government is working closely with the private sector to find solutions to mitigate the negative impact of this pandemic on business. May I strongly warn against overpricing of goods and services by retailers at this time. His Majesty views these tough times as an opportunity for EmaSwati to work towards self sufficiency and sustainability in food production, energy and other products.

Once again, I would like to emphasize that all of us should follow the precautionary guidelines as provided by the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation. These include:

1. Keeping the home environment clean and safe and disinfecting all high touch surfaces regularly.

2. Stop shaking hands and use other non touch methods of greeting.

3. Maintain a distance of at least 1 metre from each other.

4. Wash hands regularly with running water and soap or use alcohol based sanitisers.

5. Create habits and reminders to avoid touching your face (mouth, nose, eyes) and cover coughs and sneezes.

6. Take care of the vulnerable, especially senior citizens and those with underlying respiratory conditions who are more susceptible to the coronavirus infection.

7. If you experience flu like symptoms (fever, difficulty breathing, cough, high temperature) visit your nearest health centre facility or call the Emergency Medical Services Toll free line 977.

This is a time to unite to fight this common enemy. EmaSwati should admonish each each other to ensure compliance with all the measures announced by Government.

May I assure the nation that Government is committed to emerge victorious against this health threat and all necessary resources are directed to the efforts of accelerating our response. I further appeal to the public to rely on credible information that will be disseminated by Government through established communication channels and through the media and reject misinformation from any other source, especially social media.

Government appreciate the guidance and counsel we continue to receive from His Majesty the King as we continue to tackle this pandemic.

Thank you.

Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini

PRIME MINISTER

24 March 2020

GOVERNMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF ESWATINI

MINISTRY OF COMMERCE, INDUSTRY AND TRADE

GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR ALL INDUSTRIES

Following the declaration of a partial lockdown in the wake of the outbreak of COVID-19 worldwide, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade, in consultation with the business community, has identified the following principles within which businesses shall operate.

First and foremost, as a Ministry, we recognise that no business is non-essential but for the purposes of COVID-19, the Ministry recommends that the following industries continue operating as normal under World Health Organization (WHO) and Ministry of Health guidelines.

Essential services

The sectors below have been for this purpose identified as critical industries:

1. Food retailers

2. Consumer Goods suppliers

3. Manufacturers and all businesses that are involved in the food and consumer goods supply chain.

4. Agriculture and Agro-processing

5. Public Transport and cross-border transport

6. Fuel stations

7. Financial services

8. Waste disposal services

9. Health workers and Emergency Response Workers

10. Fire and Emergency services

11. Security Services

12. Water and Sanitation Services

13. Pharmacies

14. Telecommunications

15. Hospitality Industry

16. Energy Sector

17. Media

For those businesses that do not fall within the specified sectors above, except for bars which remain closed and bottle stores which shall operate within a stipulated time frame, we encourage them to scale down by minimising their working hours. Businesses that cannot comply to WHO and Ministry of Health guidelines are expected to shut down until the situation normalises.

We do understand that some businesses will be affected by external factors and we encourage those to engage their employees to come up with a workable plan on how to manage the situation.

Food retailers

These are outlets that provide food; including supermarkets, restaurants and deli shops. However, we urge these businesses to follow the guidelines; which I shall be announcing shortly. We also encourage these businesses to introduce innovative ways of delivering their food items such as online orders and deliveries as well as digital payments. We cannot over-emphasise the importance of cooking home-made meals to those who can in order to minimise movement during this period.

Consumer Goods suppliers

These include retail and manufacturing industries in the consumer goods sector such as suppliers of raw materials, hand sanitisers, facial masks, disinfectant wipes, surgical gloves, toilet paper, baby formula and others.

Cross-border trade

This will continue as normal. However, the Ministry of Home Affairs shall advise in the instance of individual informal cross border traders.

Informal sector

We are aware that the informal sector shall be hardest hit by these developments. We shall, therefore, be working with Municipalities to ensure that the situation is managed amicably. Those who want to work are advised to observe the safety precautions as stipulated.

Essential business services at the Ministry of Commerce

The Ministry wishes to assure the public that our essential services such as company registrations, liquor and trading licences and their renewals shall continue as normal. We do, however, encourage Emaswati to use our online registration and name reservation services on https://www.online.gov.sz in order to minimise long queues at the risk of exposure to COVID-19. In a few days, we shall be announcing an online mobile payment system to make transactions more convenient.

Business principles and guidelines

As a country, we are aware that people’s lives are at risk and it is, therefore, everyone’s duty to take urgent preventative measures to minimise human loss. The business community needs to be at the forefront of these measures and it is against this background that the following guidelines must be implemented to reduce the spread of the virus to protect employees and customers in all sectors.

Manufacturing and Processing:

1. Government encourages the introduction of more shifts to limit the number of employees in factory floors and restrict the number of employees in any defined working area.

2. Businesses need to ensuring compliance of the World Health Organization’s social distancing guidelines (1.5-meter distance between 2 individuals). This is not negotiable.

3. Businesses are compelled to place hand sanitiser dispensers at the entrance and throughout the premises and ensure that they are replenished and/or replaced at all times.

4. Businesses need to provide hygiene reminders on visible posters and digital platforms.

5. Sanitation stations should be placed at every corner with high human traffic.

6. All business should reinforce cleaning and sanitisation protocols.

7. Businesses should step up the frequencyof cleaning by making cleaning routines "even more rigorous."

8. Businesses should periodically wipe down checkout lanes and touchscreens.

9. Businesses should sanitise counters, doors and areas subject to frequent contact by people.

10. Businesses need to establish emergency protocols in the event any employee exhibits symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and immediately ensure traceability of contacts with the said suspected employee. This is to ensure that should the employee eventually prove positive, all the people with whom said employee would have come into contact are traced and then tested.

11. As a general rule, employers are to ensure that public transport in which their employers are transported should be sanitized both at boarding and disembarking.

In addition to the above, establishments in the food retail sector shall ensure:

1. That all shopping carts (trolleys) are sanitised thoroughly after each use by shopping patrons

2. Once a trolley has been used by each patron, it shall be sanitised once again, ready to be used by the next patron.

3. Unnecessary contact to food by patrons shall be restricted and kept at an absolute minimum3

4. Each retail establishment shall be sanitised periodically as is necessary so as to rid the atmosphere of flying germs.

5. At Point of Sale (POS), there shall be a dedicated resource whose sole job will be to enforce social distancing measures as patrons make payment for their shopping.

6. It shall be the duty of Management to ensure that at no point in time does the number of people exceed 20 inside any establishment. For smaller retail shops, this figure shall even be lower. In any event, social distancing of 1.5 metres apart shall be observed without fail.

7. The exchange of legal tender, i.e. notes and coins, should be kept at an absolute minimum in favor of digital payment platforms which we hereby encourage that they be fully functional at all times.

8. Management agrees to enforcing these measures at all times and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade with the help of duly authorised agencies such as Business Eswatini and FESBC shall ensure compliance.

9. Failure to comply with the aforementioned can and will result in the closure of that business in the interest of people’s health.

For further information on business interventions, please contact the MSME Director Mr Mluleki Dlamini on 2404 3201/2/3/4/5/6 or send him an email at mlulekisakhile@yahoo.com . You can also call our toll-free line 800 1002 or the following business federations:

Business Eswatini - 2404 0768

Federation of Eswatini Business Community (FESBC) - 2505 9199

Released by

Senator Manqoba B. Khumalo

Honourable Minister for Commerce, Industry and Trade

25^th March 2020

Corona Virus Disease 2019

Always stay up to date with the latest statistics pertaining to COVID-19. Click on the link below to see global confirmed cases, deaths and affected countries.

About COVID-19

HOW IT SPREADS

CASES ON COVID-19 IN THE KINGDOM

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0+

0+

0+

Watch this video

COVID-19 Eswatini Dashboard

Source of Transmission

COVID-19 Cases by Age

Cases by Gender

Cummulative Confirmed Cases

Daily Confirmed Cases

Latest News

Contact Info

Address

Phone

Email

Corona Virus Disease 2019

Always stay up to date with the latest statistics pertaining to COVID-19. Click on the link below to see global confirmed cases, deaths and affected countries.

About COVID-19

HOW IT SPREADS

CASES ON COVID-19 IN THE KINGDOM

0+

0+

0+

0+

Watch this video

COVID-19 Eswatini Dashboard

Source of Transmission

COVID-19 Cases by Age

Cases by Gender

Cummulative Confirmed Cases

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Daily Confirmed Cases

Latest News

Contact Info

Address

Phone

Email