South Africa eases strict lockdown despite safety fears of health workers

Runners and dog walkers embraced the new freedoms while some bought clothes for the impending winter.

South Africa began easing one of the world’s strictest lockdowns, with runners and dog-walkers returning eagerly to the streets but not all wearing the face masks that are now mandatory in the country with Africa’s most Covid-19 cases.

In Johannesburg, Cape Town and elsewhere, people took a breath of autumn air and some headed to the shopping centres to buy warm clothes for winter, which brings a new challenge in combating the virus: flu season.