South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday said the government has decided to relax level 3 lockdown regulations following a decline in new Covid-19 cases, reported CGTN Africa.
South Africa recorded its lowest daily increase in infections on Monday since December when a new strain of coronavirus was detected in the country.
While addressing the nation on the country’s response to the pandemic, Ramaphosa said the average number of daily infections has almost halved, while the number of hospital admissions has also dropped.
The South African president acknowledged that restrictions cannot continue for longer than necessary as it has a harmful impact on the economy.
He announced that the nighttime curfew will now start at 11:00 pm and end at 4:00 am. Faith-based gatherings will now be permitted but with strict health protocols and a limit of 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors.
“Such gatherings may not exceed 50 people for indoor venues and 100 persons for outdoor venues,” Ramaphosa said. “Where the venue is too small to accommodate these numbers with appropriate social distancing, then no more than 50 percent of the capacity of the venue may be used.”
The South African president also announced that the ban on the sale of alcohol in the country has been partially lifted.
“Restrictions on the sale of alcohol will be eased,” he said adding, “the sale of alcohol by licensed premises for off-site consumption will be permitted from Mondays to Thursdays, from 10 am to 6 pm.”
Despite decreasing number of virus cases, Ramaphosa said it is mandatory for every South African to wear a mask in a public place.
South Africa is the hardest-hit African country by the COVID-19 pandemic. The country has reported 1,456,309 infections with 44,399 deaths. It received its first consignment of one million Covid-19 vaccines on Monday. The vaccines will first be tested for their integrity and then will be distributed to healthcare as part of the country’s phase 1 rollout.
