South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday announced strict restrictions on public gatherings and the sale of alcohol in the country as the number of new COVID-19 cases shoot up rapidly last week, reported Africa News.
South Africa recorded 7,500 new coronavirus infections on a daily average in the last seven days. The number of people who were hospitalized due to Covid-19 rose 59% during the last 14 days as compared to the preceding 14 days.
Addressing the nation, President Ramaphosa said that the country has been put under a Level 3 lockdown, effective from Tuesday midnight. The nightly curfew has been extended by an hour from 10 pm to 4 am and religious gatherings indoors have been limited to 50 people.
Only 50 people are allowed to gather for indoor social events and 100 people for outdoor events.
Restaurants, bars, fitness centres, and other non-essential establishments will now be required to close by 9 pm for their employees and patrons to travel home before the start of the curfew.
The retail sale of alcohol will only be permitted between 10 am and 6 pm local time from Monday through Thursday, excluding public holidays.
The South African President said that four of the country’s nine provinces were already hit by the third wave of the pandemic and the others were on their way there.
The Gauteng province has been particularly hard hit, accounting for two-thirds of the 40 percent increase in infections across the country in the past week. The average number of people dying in the province from coronavirus has increased by 48 percent.
“Within a matter of a few days, it is likely that the number of new cases in Gauteng will surpass the peak of the second wave. We must act decisively and act quickly to save lives,” Ramaphosa said.
South Africa has been the country hardest hit by the pandemic on the continent, with a cumulative total of more than 1.7 million infections, including 58,000 deaths.
