South Africa Back in Strict COVID-19 lockdown
By Dumisani Sigogo – South Africa has tightened lockdown rules, on Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the new tougher restrictions that include a ban on all gatherings and the sale of alcohol.
In a national address last night (27th June), Ramaphosa said that the country will move to alert level 4 lockdown from midnight to stop health facilities from being overwhelmed.
He said that the priority now is to ensure that there are enough beds and healthcare workers to give the best possible care to those who need it.
The latest move by the government was in response to the rising numbers of new COVID-19 cases as well as the pandemic related hospitalisations.
South Africa, which is experiencing the COVID-19 third wave, has been experiencing surging number of new cases that are higher than the first and second wave, prompting the government to tighten restrictions.
On Sunday, the Department of Health said the “cumulative number of Covid-19 cases reported in South Africa on 27th June 2021 is 1 928 897 with 15 036 new cases reported.
“There are 158 998 active cases in the country. There are 122 reported deaths, which brings the total to 59 900. The recovery rate is 88.7%.”
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases said a total of 55,920 tests were conducted in the last 24 hrs with a 26.9% positivity rate.
The President said the Delta variant that was driving the spike of Covid-19 infections was easier to catch and prevention measures in place were no longer sufficient.
He said the priority was to break the chain of transmission by reducing person-to-person contact.
Ramaphosa said Cabinet had decided to place the country on adjusted alert level four for 14 days.
He said from Monday, 28 June, to Sunday 11 July all gatherings are prohibited. This includes political, cultural, social, and religious gatherings.
However, funeral gatherings with a maximum of 50 people are allowed. Ramaphosa said “after tears” was not allowed. There will be no all-night vigils.
He said beaches and parks will remain open but no gatherings will be permitted. There will be a curfew from 9pm to 4am, the president said.
The sale of alcohol on-site and off-site is prohibited as is the travel to and from Gauteng for leisure.
Restaurants will be limited to takeaways. Ramaphosa said schools will close from Wednesday. All schools must be closed by Friday.
The post South Africa Back in Strict COVID-19 lockdown first appeared on The African Gazette.