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Covid-19: South Africa lifts nighttime curfew after peak of fourth wave

2021-12-30T21:40:48.118Z


Demands for a lifting of the night curfew in effect from midnight to 4 a.m. had multiplied in recent days, in advance


South Africa, where the Omicron variant was detected last month, is already taking its head out of the water: the South African government announced on Thursday an easing of restrictions linked to Covid and in particular the lifting of the curfew, the country having passed the peak of this pandemic wave.

Demands for a lifting of the night curfew in effect from midnight to 4 a.m. had multiplied in recent days, in anticipation of New Year's Eve.

The owners of restaurants and bars had launched an online petition called "No curfew", addressed to President Cyril Ramaphosa.

To read also Covid-19: how to stop the mad race of Omicron?

“The curfew is lifted.

There are therefore no longer any restrictions on traffic times, ”the presidency indicated.

The sale of alcohol is permitted after 11 p.m. for licensed establishments.

New contaminations down almost 30%

"All indicators suggest that the country has probably passed the peak of the fourth wave" of the epidemic, she explained.

New infections fell 29.7% last week (89,781), compared to the previous week (127,753).

Hospital admissions declined in eight of the nine provinces. "Although the Omicron variant is highly transmissible, hospitalization rates have been lower than in previous waves" and the increase in the number of deaths is "marginal", continued the presidency. Wearing a mask remains compulsory in public spaces and gatherings are still limited: 1,000 people maximum indoors, 2,000 outdoors.

Omicron, which has a high number of mutations, has been behind a new wave of the pandemic with an exponential increase in cases.

"The risk of an increase in infections remains high given the high transmissibility of the Omicron variant," said the authorities, who also called for vaccination.

The African country officially the most affected, South Africa has more than 3.4 million cases and 91,000 deaths.

Source: leparis

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