Johannesburg (South Africa), June 16: The South African government will place the country under level three of lockdown due to rapidly increasing COVID-19 cases, announced President Cyril Ramaphosa in a televised address on Monday night.
"A third wave of infections is upon us. We have to contain this new wave of infections," he said.
South Africa recorded 8,436 new COVID-19 cases over the last 24 hours. Ramaphosa said tighter regulations were required as the "The average number of people who die from COVID-19 each day has increased by 48 percent from 535 two weeks ago to 791 in the past seven days."
"The massive surge in new infections means that we must once again tighten restrictions on the movement of persons and gatherings," he noted.
Under the adjusted level three set to come into effect on Tuesday night, restaurants, fitness centers and other establishments would close at 9:00 p.m., with curfew being imposed from 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. Indoor gatherings would be limited to 50 people and outside to 100 people.
As alcohol played a big role in driving the second wave, Ramaphosa said retail outlets would sell alcohol for off-site consumption between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. from Monday to Thursday. Citizens wouldn't be permitted to consume alcohol in public spaces such as beaches and parks.
The president said Gauteng was hardest hit province in the third wave. Private hospitals also said that they were almost full with COVID-19 patients in the province.
According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, there have now been 1,761,066 confirmed infections across South Africa. There were 157 in-hospital deaths recorded in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of fatalities to 58,041.
Source: Xinhua
