South Africa closes casinos due to COVID-19 until at least July 11

During a press conference held on June 27, the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, announced that due to a rise in cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19, the country will move back to Level 4 of the national lockdown, which bans all social gatherings except for funerals, workplaces, and shopping malls as well as the sale of alcohol. A curfew will be in place from 9 pm to 4 am, reports Fin24.

Casinos, gyms and fitness centers, nightclubs, restaurants (except for food deliveries and takeaways), conferencing exhibition, and entertainment facilities, must close their doors from Monday, June 28 until at least July 11. The regulations will be reviewed after two weeks.

Hotels, lodges as well as bed and breakfast may only operate at 50% of capacity, and they may only offer room service and delivery of food. The new regulations also state that schools and higher education institutions must be closed for contact classes from 30 June, however early childhood development centers can remain open.

Ramaphosa warned that a more contagious Delta variant has been detected in five provinces, The 7-day average of new daily cases nationally has overtaken the peak of the first wave in July last year, and may soon overtake the peak of the second wave experienced in January this year. Gauteng now accounts for more than 60% of new cases in the country.

After #14days, we will assess the impact of these interventions after 14 days to determine whether they need to be maintained or adjusted.https://t.co/pvoJdzQB1Z

— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 #StaySafe (@CyrilRamaphosa) June 27, 2021