South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa reimposes restrictions for two weeks to combat a surge in coronavirus cases.
The worst-hit country on the continent “is facing a massive resurgence of infection,” the president said in a televised address to the nation.
Ramaphosa banned all gatherings, except for funerals where numbers will be capped at 50, and also ordered a ban on the sale of alcohol.
Eateries and restaurants will not be allowed to serve sit-down meals, and will only be allowed to sell food for take-away or delivery.
A nighttime curfew has been lengthened by an hour – starting at 9pm till 4am, while all schools should be shut by Friday.
Authorities say the peak of the third wave – fuelled by the Delta variant first identified in India — will surpass that of earlier waves as the country struggles to quickly roll out vaccinations.
South Africa now counts 1,928,897 coronavirus cases after recording 15,036 new cases on Sunday, a drop from the previous day when 18,762 new infections were diagnosed.
