President calls soaring coronavirus toll 'the gravest crisis in the history of our democracy'
Covid-19 patients are being treated with oxygen at the Tshwane District Hospital in Pretoria, South Africa on July 10, 2020.With hospitals overwhelmed and oxygen shortages mounting, the South African government is imposing an alcohol ban and a nightly curfew in an attempt to defend its health system from a relentless rise in COVID-19 cases.
As of Sunday night, South Africa had recorded a total of 276,242 coronavirus cases, along with 4,079 deaths. Many hospitals have been severely affected by cases among their doctors and nurses. More than 4,800 health workers had tested positive for the virus by the end of June, often forcing wards to shut down, the government disclosed last week.
A growing number of South African politicians and celebrities have been infected with the virus, including three of the nine provincial premiers, several top officials of the ruling African National Congress, and a prominent member of a traditional royal family. Few countries have banned alcohol during the coronavirus pandemic, but South Africa imposed a temporary ban on alcohol sales in late March and found that it saved thousands of hospital beds by reducing trauma admissions from violent crime and car accidents.Hospitals recorded 23,000 fewer weekly admissions to their trauma units in the early weeks of the national lockdown, and researchers estimated that 40 per cent of this reduction was due to the alcohol ban.
The nightly curfew, from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m., is also aimed at reducing trauma admissions to hospitals, since the majority of road accidents happen at night.Mr. Ramaphosa complained that some South Africans are “organizing parties” and having “drinking sprees” during the pandemic. He announced that the government will impose stricter enforcement of regulations on mask-wearing.
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