South Africa bans alcohol to stem COVID-19 rising cases

South Africans enjoy a good time drinking alcohol in a bar in Johannesburg, South Africa.

South Africa has banned the sale of alcohol to reduce the volume of trauma patients so that the emergency wards have more beds to accommodate coronavirus patients.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said top health officials warned of impending shortages of hospital beds and oxygen as South Africa reached a peak of COVID-19 cases.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa .

He added that some hospitals have had to turn away patients because all their beds are full.

There were 28,000 hospital beds available for Covid-19 patients but the country still faced a stern shortage of more than 12,000 healthcare workers, including nurses, doctors and physiotherapists. Said the president.

Earlier this June, the country began to uplift some of the restrictions which included allowing the sales and distribution of alcohol from licensed shops on four days a week.

This is because the country's brewers and winemakers complained that they were being driven out of business and unable to support themselves.

South Africa had imposed one of the world's strictest lockdowns in April and May, including closing virtually all mines, factories and businesses, and a ban on sales of liquor and cigarettes.

And within a month during the uplift, the country's number of confirmed cases and hospitalisations increased vigorously.

There was a rapid increase of more than 10,000 confirmed cases for several days and the latest daily jump was nearly 13,500, the government projections estimate this could rise to 50,000 by the end of the year.

A medical worker in South Africa attends to a COVID-19 patient.

South Africa has also reinforced a nighttime curfew to reduce traffic accidents with a set obligatory for all residents to wear facemasks when in public.

The nighttime ban would be in place from 21:00 to 04:00 effective Monday. Mr Ramaphosa said the new measures were being introduced to help the country to survive the storm of coronavirus.

He criticized citizens who have continued to have social gatherings, including parties and overcrowded funerals to have contributed significantly to the rapid spread of the virus.

"There are a number of people who have taken to organizing parties, who have drinking sprees, and some who walk around crowded spaces without wearing masks," said the president.

South Africa still remains the hardest-hit country on the continent with 276,000 confirmed cases, 4,079 deaths and 135,000 deaths.