South Africa will impose additional restrictive measures in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality in an effort to stem the resurgence of COVID-19 cases, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a televised address on Thursday.

Under the new rules, in addition to the existing Alert Level 1 regulations, Nelson Mandela Bay Metro will impose a curfew from midnight Thursday.

Also, the sale of alcohol from retail outlets will only be permitted between 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) and 6 p.m. (1600 GMT) from Monday to Thursday. Alcohol consumption in public space is strictly forbidden to prevent large social gatherings.

All post-funeral gatherings are prohibited.

South Africa has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks with hospital admissions escalating. As of Thursday, more than 800,000 confirmed cases have been reported nationwide with nearly 22,000 deaths.

xinhua