The City of Johannesburg has decided to close all its public facilities indefinitely amid the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19).

This includes all public swimming pools, recreational and civic centres, stadiums, libraries, sporting facilities and the Johannesburg Zoo.

On Wednesday, the Johannesburg Zoo tweeted that it would remain open for the time being, but it has now been closed following an urgent mayoral committee meeting in response to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s pronouncements on the management and spread of Covid-19.

The executive mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Geoffrey Makhubo, convened the meeting on Wednesday

“In the recently released figures by the Department of Health, we have noted that the majority of cases reported and confirmed are within the Gauteng province and the City of Johannesburg in particular,” Makhubo said in a statement issued late on Wednesday.

“Given that the City has a population of 5.5 million residents, mostly located in high-density settlements and with a significant population located in informal settlements, this warrants the implementation of drastic, yet responsible, interventions to prevent a potential rapid spread that could affect millions in a short space of time and with devastating effects on the capacity of our health facilities and personnel to respond.”

Makhubo said the City was organised into seven regions that cover key nodal points, such as the Johannesburg inner city, Ennerdale, Fourways, Lenasia, Midrand, Randburg, Roodepoort, Sandton and Soweto.

“These are areas wherein there is a high concentration of people, businesses and settlements. The City’s approach is thus to prevent, contain and manage the spread of the Covid-19 through efficient and equitable deployment of resources to regions and the most vulnerable areas, particularly areas of high volumes in human traffic and informal and densely populated settlements.