President Cyril Ramaphosa has extended the Level 4 lockdown regulations for another two weeks as South Africa continues to register a significant rise in Covid-19 cases.
In a televised address to the nation on Sunday night, said the country has over the last two weeks recorded an average of nearly 20,000 daily new cases while over 4,200 South Africans have lost their lives due to COVID-19.
“Consequently, Cabinet, after consultation with the provinces, has decided to maintain the country at Adjusted Alert Level 4 for another 14 days,” Ramaphosa said.
This means that until July 25 all social, political, religious and other gatherings remain prohibited, as would a curfew that runs from 9pm (1900 GMT) to 4am.
Other measures include a ban on the sale of alcohol, the closure of schools until July 26.
“Restaurants and eateries will be able to operate while observing strict health protocols,” he said, adding that such establishments would be required to accommodate not more than 50 people at a time “or, for smaller venues, more than 50 per cent of their normal capacity.”
Ramaphosa revealed that at present South Africa has over 200,000 active COVID-19 cases, with the industrial hub, Gauteng province, accounting for more than half of new infections.
Cases are increasing rapidly in provinces such as the Western Cape, Limpopo, North West, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.
The South African leader expressed satisfaction with the pace at which the national vaccination programme is moving.
“To date, over 4.2 million people in South Africa have received a vaccine dose, with one million of these having been done over the past seven weekdays,” he said.
Presently, nearly 190,000 people are on average being vaccinated each weekday.
JN/APA