This archive report was first published on 13 July 2020.
South Africa is grappling with a rising number of Covid-19 cases, with over 276,000 confirmed cases as of Sunday evening.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a fresh ban on the sale of alcohol and introduced a dusk-to-dawn curfew to curb the surge of coronavirus cases.
‘More than a quarter of a million South Africans have been infected with coronavirus, and we know that many more infections have gone undetected,’ he said in a televised address.
South Africa is now recording over 12,000 new cases every day, with the country's mortality rate being the highest in Africa, with 4,079 lives lost since March.
President Ramaphosa said it is now vital not to burden clinics and hospitals with alcohol-related injuries that can be avoided.
‘This is a fight to save every life, and we need to save every bed. We have therefore decided that in order to conserve hospital capacity, the sale, dispensing and distribution of alcohol will be suspended with immediate effect,’ he said.
A curfew will be put in place between the hours of 9pm and 4am to reduce the pressure on hospitals.
President Ramaphosa said scientists and other scenario planners have presented the government with models that project that South Africa may have between 40,000 and 50,000 deaths before the end of this year.
