President Cyril Ramaphosa has moved the country’s lockdown level one notch higher to deal with a third wave of Covid-19 infections.
In a national address on Tuesday evening (15 June), the president said that the country will move to level 3 lockdown from midnight.
“We have to act decisively and move quickly to save lives,” Ramaphosa said in an address to the nation on Tuesday.
Ramaphosa tightened a number of restrictions, including:
- The curfew which will now start one hour earlier at 10pm, meaning nonessential establishments such as bars, restaurants and taverns will have to close at 9pm.
- Supermarkets and other businesses selling alcohol for consumption at home will only be allowed to do so between Monday and Thursday.
- On-site alcohol consumption may continue until 21h00, subject to liquor licenses.
- Alcohol in public is strictly prohibited.
- The number of people allowed to gather together has been reduced to 50 for indoors, and 100 outside.
President Ramaphosa said that he understood that South Africans were frustrated by the constraints on their freedoms, but said that restrictions are necessary for combating the Covid-19 virus.
#COVID19 UPDATE: A total of 47,394 tests were conducted in the last 24 hrs, with 8,436 new cases, which represents a 17.8% positivity rate. A further 208 #COVID19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 58,087. Read more: https://t.co/iBrPqF4iNh pic.twitter.com/XgK8Klms5Z
— NICD (@nicd_sa) June 15, 2021