CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that his country will return to stricter lockdown measures in the face of a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases.
Ramaphosa said in a live television address Sunday that the rise indicates the virus is “surging again” in Africa’s worst-affected nation and parts of the country are already in “a third wave.”
Ramaphosa said that from Monday the curfew would be extended by an hour to start at 11 p.m. until 4 a.m.
He also reduced the number of people allowed to gather for social events and banned after-funeral gatherings altogether.
South Africa has more than 1.6 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 56,000 deaths.