President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa has announced that the was amending its COVID-19 restrictions from Level 1 to Level 3 with immediate effect following a spike in new infections.
Ramaphosa disclosed that the country had banned sales of alcohol and made use of face masks compulsory in public from Tuesday after the country became the first in Africa to record one million cases of the virus.
This follows the warning by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that a pandemics worse that COVID-19 may lie ahead.
The president made the announcement during a national address on Monday.
He said, “We have let down our guard, and unfortunately we are now paying the price.”
Ramaphosa said data showed “excessive alcohol consumption” leads to an increase in trauma cases reported at hospitals, causing an “unnecessary” strain on public health facilities.
Reports say a new coronavirus variant – known as 501.V2 – is believed to be responsible for the new wave of new infections.
“We will all have heard that there is a new variant of COVID-19 that is now well-established in our country,” Ramaphosa said in his address.
The president noted that while the new variant of the coronavirus appears to spread more rapidly, the increase in new infections may also have been fueled by super-spreader events including end-year events, family gatherings and social functions.