South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced new tougher coronavirus restrictions, a day after the country surpassed one million Covid-19 cases.
The measures include an overnight curfew from 21:00 to 06:00, as well as bans on indoor and outdoor gatherings and alcohol sales.
The president said the country was at an extremely dangerous point in the pandemic and action had to be taken, as some hospitals and medical centres struggle under a huge rise in admissions.
Recently authorities confirmed a new, faster-spreading variant of the virus had been detected in South Africa.
The new form of the virus appears unrelated to the new variant identified in the UK, although both have a mutation in a crucial part of the virus used to infect the body’s cells.
South Africa has recorded more than 27,000 deaths since the outbreak began in March.
BBC
