South Africa bans alcohol sales to combat Covid-19

Special Desk

South Africa has imposed fresh ban on alcohol sales, to help contain the spread of coronavirus. This is apart from the several measures introduced. President Cyril Ramaphosa said the alcohol ban – South Africa’s second this year – would take pressure off the national healthcare system.

A night-time curfew has been imposed, and the wearing of masks outdoors is now compulsory. It comes as total infections exceed a quarter of a million. Deaths resulting from coronavirus have also risen to more than 4,000, and government projections estimate this could rise to 50,000 by the end of the year.

South Africa remains the hardest-hit country on the continent, and earlier this week recorded its highest-ever single-day increase in cases. Nearly half of them were in Gauteng, a province that’s become the outbreak epicentre.

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In a public address, Ramaphosa acknowledged “most” people had taken action to help prevent the spread, but he said there were still some who acted “without any responsibility to respect and protect each other”. “There are a number of people who have taken to organising parties, who have drinking sprees, and some who walk around crowded spaces without wearing masks,” said the president.

Ramaphosa said the new measures were being introduced to help the country to weather the storm of coronavirus, and a state of emergency would be extended until 15 August. The night-time ban would be in place from 21:00 to 04:00.

Africa currently accounts for only a small proportion of total global cases, but the acceleration in rates of infection in some countries is of increasing concern to health authorities in the region.

“With more than a third of countries in Africa doubling their cases over the past month, the threat of Covid-19 overwhelming fragile health systems is escalating,” says Dr Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organization (WHO) director for Africa.

While it took nearly 100 days for Africa to reach an initial 100,000 cases, it took only 18 days for that to double to 200,000. It doubled again to 400,000 cases over the next 20 days. And on 8 July, total cases passed 500,000.