South Africa Lifts Alcohol Ban As The Covid Restrictions Are Eased
The South African government has eased some restrictions on the alcohol business.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has lifted the ban on alcohol and the restrictions imposed due to coronavirus.
Some of the public places like beaches will reopen and religious gatherings will be held in limited people.
Mr. Ramaphosa announced the arrival of the vaccines; one million AstraZeneca doses have arrived. The president is considering this opportunity to “turn the tide” on Covid-19.
Most of the Covid cases of infections and deaths happened in South Africa on the continent.
More than 1.4 million people have contracted the virus since the pandemic started. According to the John Hopkins University research, around 44,164 people died due to the virus.
Several countries over the world have restricted travel from South Africa to stop the spread of the highly infectious and spreadable variant, 501Y.V2.
The experts are saying that this particular variant has originated from South Africa only that is more resistant to the vaccines.
The country is still under lockdown, which is called Level 3 lockdown that eases some restrictions but on limited conditions only.
The retail outlets of liquor can sell alcohol between 10:00 and 18:00 from Monday to Thursday. The licensed outlets are allowed to serve drinks from 10:00 to 22:00 but after that, they have to close.
Curfew hours will be active from 23:00 to 04:00.
The people of South America have experienced three consecutive alcohol bans since the pandemic started and hit in March. The last ban was imposed on 28th December.
The Government said that it was a necessary step to reduce the severe pressure in the healthcare system.
However, the public and the people of the alcohol industry said that millions of jobs were at risk.
President Ramaphosa said, “I want to call on all of us to drink responsibly so that we do not experience a spike in trauma cases or an increase in infections due to reckless behavior.”
Some restrictions at religious gatherings have been reduced too. The limit was 50 people earlier but now it has been maximized to up to 100 persons.
Similarly, parks, beaches, rivers, and swimming pools will be reopened too.
The President further added, “the average rate of new infections has been steadily coming down over the last three weeks”.
He hopes that “These changes have been made possible by the significant reduction in Covid-19 hospital admissions across all provinces, reducing the pressure on beds and hospital personnel.”
President had traveled to OR Tambo airport to welcome the Oxford-AstraZeneca doses that are produced by the Serum Institute of India.
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