South Africa lifted a midnight to 4 a.m. curfew on movement with immediate effect as it believes the country has passed the peak of its fourth COVID-19 wave driven by the Omicron variant, a cabinet statement said on Thursday (Dec. 30)
Besides lifting the restrictions on public movement, the government said gatherings will be restricted to no more than 1,000 people indoors, and no more than 2,000 people outdoors.
It also ruled that alcohol shops with licenses to operate beyond 11 p.m. (2100GMT) may revert back to full license conditions, a welcome boon for traders and business hard hit by the pandemic and looking to recover during the festive season.
“While the Omicron variant is highly transmissible, there has been lower rates of hospitalization than in previous waves. This means that the country has a spare capacity for admission of patients even for routine health services,” the cabinet said.