Faced with a rising number of COVID-19 infections and increasing hospital admission amid a third coronavirus wave, President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced stricter lockdown regulations.
In an address to the nation on Tuesday night, Ramaphosa moved the country to Alert Level 3 in an effort to curb the spike in COVID-19 infections.
Among the measures announced tonight is a ban on alcohol sales and new curfews that kick in from tonight when the regulations are gazetted.
The sale of alcohol will be permitted from 10am to 6pm Monday to Thursday.
Public Holidays are excluded.
On-site sale of alcohol is permitted at premises up to 9pm.
A curfew starting from 10pm to 4am will take effect from midnight while gatherings will be limited to 50 people indoors and 150 outdoors.
Attendance at funerals may not exceed 50 people and after-funeral gatherings are not allowed.
This comes as the National Institute for Communicable Diseases reported that 8 436 new COVID-19 cases have been identified in South Africa on Tuesday.
This represented a 17.8 percent positivity rate.
The World Health Organisation considers a positivity rate greater than five percent a cause for concern.
Professor Koleka Mlisana, head of the Ministerial Advisory Committee, said social gatherings and lack of restraint from South Africans to adhere to the lockdown restrictions had added to the worrying surge in COVID-19 cases.
Calling for tighter restrictions, she said that if South Africans did not manage the steep increase in infections it will “spill over to the healthcare facilities”.
“At an individual level, people are not adhering to the regulations of social distancing and not wearing masks. We need to be accountable citizens,” she said. – IOL