JOHANNESBURG (AP) – The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, has reinstated a ban on alcohol sales and ordered that the closure of all pubs be ended on Monday as part of new restrictions to help the country revive the to fight coronavirus, including a new variant.
Ramaphosa has also closed the closure of all beaches and public swimming pools in the country’s infection points, including Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and several coastal areas. In addition, South Africa is extending its night clock by four hours, which requires all residents to be home from 21:00 to 06:00, the president said.
‘Reckless behavior due to alcohol poisoning has contributed to increased transmission. “Alcohol-related accidents and violence are putting pressure on our emergency units in the hospital,” Ramaphosa said in a nationwide speech.
“As we had to in the early days of exclusion, we now need to flatten the curve to protect the capacity of our healthcare system so that it can respond effectively to this new wave of infections,” he said.
Ramaphosa said the ban on the sale of alcohol and other new restrictions would take effect at midnight. This includes the mandatory wearing of masks in public, and anyone who does not wear a mask in a public place will be subject to a fine or a criminal charge punishable by a possible jail sentence, the president said.
Ramaphosa said the increased restrictions were necessary due to an increase in COVID-19 infections which pushed the total confirmed virus cases from South Africa to more than 1 million.
‘It is known that almost 27 000 South Africans have died due to COVID-19. “The number of new coronavirus infections is increasing at an unprecedented rate,” he said. “More than 50,000 new cases have been reported since Christmas Eve.”
Ramaphosa announced the new measures after a cabinet meeting and an emergency meeting of the National Coronavirus Command Council. He said the new restrictions will be reviewed in a few weeks and a relaxation will only be considered when the number of new cases and hospitalizations decreases.
The country surpassed the 1 million level in confirmed virus cases on Sunday night, when authorities reported that the country’s total number of cases during the pandemic reached 1,004,413, including 26,735 deaths.
Like Britain, South Africa is struggling with a variant of COVID-19 which, according to medical experts, is more contagious than the original. According to experts, the variant is dominant in many parts of the country.
The South African Medical Association, which represents nurses and other health professionals as well as doctors, warned on Monday that the health system was on the verge of being overwhelmed by the combination of a larger number of COVID-19 patients and people in urgent need. should be cared for due to alcohol-related incidents. Many holiday events involve high alcohol consumption, which in turn often leads to increased trauma cases.
“To alleviate the pressure on the system during this time of year, where we only employ skeletal staff, especially in the public sector as well as in the private sector, we call for stricter restrictions on social gatherings,” Angelique Coetzee asked. . , chairman of the medical association told The Associated Press.
‘South Africa has a history of a lot of alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction, especially over the weekends. “In certain areas that lead to a lot of trauma cases, assaults, car accidents and domestic violence,” she said.
The medical association has called on the government to impose stricter restrictions on the sale of alcohol, especially with regard to large gatherings.
When South Africa previously had a total ban on liquor sales, trauma cases in hospitals fell by as much as 60%, according to government statistics. When the ban on alcohol sales was lifted, trauma cases fell back to previous levels.
Amid the revival of COVID-19 in early December, South Africa restricted alcohol sales to Monday to Thursday between 10:00 and 18:00. The country also has an evening clock from 23:00 to 04:00.
Several alcohol traffickers have pleaded with the government to avoid a total ban on alcohol sales, citing the economic damage it would cause. South Africa’s alcohol industry was hit hardest when the country imposed a hard lock during April and May, which also bans all liquor sales.
South Africa’s 7 – day moving average of confirmed daily cases has risen over the past two weeks from 11.18 new cases per 100,000 people on 13 December to 19.87 new cases per 100,000 people on 27 December.
The seven-day average daily deaths in the country have risen over the past two weeks from 0.26 deaths per 100,000 people on December 13 to 0.49 deaths per 100,000 people on December 27.
Ramaphosa urged people to avoid New Year’s Eve gatherings. Instead, he asked all South Africans to light candles.
“On New Year’s Eve, exactly at midnight, I will light a candle at Cape Town in memory of those who have lost their lives and pay tribute to those who are at the forefront of saving our lives and protecting us from harm,” he said. “I ask that you join me in this very important symbolic gesture, wherever you are.”