Confronted with a rapid surge of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, South Africa has returned to tighter restrictions on public gatherings and liquor sales, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Tuesday night.
The new infections threaten the health systems in several parts of the country, said Ramaphosa in a nationally televised address.
Hospital admissions due to COVID-19 have increased by 59% over the past two weeks, according to Ramaphosa. South Africa's 7-day rolling average of daily new cases has nearly doubled over the past two weeks from 6.69 new cases per 100,000 people on May 31 to 12.71 new cases per 100,000 people on June 14, according to Johns Hopkins University.
“Our priority now is to make sure there are enough hospital beds, enough health workers, enough ventilators, and enough oxygen to give the best possible care to every person who needs it,” said Ramaphosa.
“The massive surge in new infections means that we must once again tighten restrictions on the movement of persons and gatherings,” he said.
The nightly curfew has been extended by an hour from 10pm to 4am while religious gatherings indoors are now limited to 50 people. The number of people allowed to gather for social events has been limited to 50 people for indoor events and 100 people for outdoor events.
The retail sale of alcohol will only be permitted between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. from Monday through Thursday.