What Is The Current Curfew In South Africa?

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, many nations declared a lockdown. In South Africa, the lockdown resulted in the declaration of a curfew every evening from 9 pm to 4 am. Over time, this curfew was changed to 10 pm to 4 am as the cases reduced nationwide. Recently, the government revealed that as of February 2022, the curfew had been lifted entirely. This means that there are currently no form restrictions on the people of South Africa, and the citizens can move freely at night. That is not to say that caution has been thrown to the wind, however. Gatherings have been restricted to not more than 1000 people in an indoor type of location and not more than 2000 people in an outdoor kind of location. Every building is instructed to take in only 50% of its original capacity for social distancing to be very effective.

The Government’s Plea

The government also said to all event organizers that all health and safety protocols should be put in place at any such functions. They cited that these measures be strictly adhered to because of the risk of a surge in infections due to the high potency in the transmission of the Omicron variant. As part of the announcements, establishments that dispense alcohol, like pubs and bars with prior permission to operate beyond 11 pm, are allowed to function correctly.

Statistics

The statistics show that there has been a decrease in the number of cases detected, and this decline seems to be the current trend. In the ending week of December 2021, it was noticed that there was a 29.7 percent decrease in the number of new cases as compared to the prior week. All across South Africa, cases had been noticed to have generally declined. There were general declines except in the case of the Western Cape and Eastern Cape, whose statistics saw an increase of 14% and 18%, respectively.

The Potency Of The New Strain

Considering the high potency of transmissibility of the Omicron strain, the degree of hospitalization has reduced in comparison to previous waves that had hit the country. Even to the extent that there were more spaces in hospitals for the admission of patients for non-covid related health services. Although the curfew is over, all are still advised to do well to keep health and safety protocols such as social distancing, wearing masks, and washing hands as the coronavirus is not entirely eradicated from society.