By Rogers Wanambwa 

KIU, Main Campus - President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa yesterday July 12 reinstated the ban on alcohol sale and distribution in his country to relieve hospitals of the number of trauma patients and enable them to have more space to treat COVID-19 patients.

He also reinstated nighttime curfew, between 9:00 pm and 4:00 am, and made it mandatory to wear a face mask while in public, in order to check the spike in COVID-19 cases in his country.

He announced this during a televised address to the nation as South Africa's COVID-19 cases reached 276,444, with 4079 fatalities from the disease, making it the ninth most affected country from the disease in the world, according to statistics from John Hopkins University. 

Ramaphosa said since the sale and distribution of alcohol were reintroduced in June, hospitals have experienced a spike in admissions in their trauma and emergency wards.

South Africa is the latest in a growing number of countries who have reinstated lockdown measures as relaxation of COVID-19 control measures has proven to be a catalyst of the spread of the global pandemic.

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni last month warned that he too could reinstate the total lockdown if citizens ignored measures put in place by the country’s Health Ministry, including wearing a face mask and avoiding overcrowding.