Nation restores tight restrictions

South Africa has reintroduced tough restrictions including a ban on alcohol sales and an extended nightly curfew as it fights a fastincreasing surge ofcoronavirus cases.

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the delta variant that was first discovered in India appears to be driving South Africa’s new increase.

South Africa recorded more than 15,000 new cases Sunday including 122 deaths. That brings its total fatalities to near 60,000.

The country’s most populous province of Gauteng is facing the brunt of the current surge, accounting for about 66% of new infections. The province includes the largest city Johannesburg and the capital Pretoria.

Health authorities are concerned that the country’s eight other provinces are likely to soon see spikes in cases to match those in Gauteng, where hospitals are running short of COVID19 beds and patients are being taken to health facilities in other provinces.

Emmanuel Croset / AFP via Getty Images A health worker obtains a nasal swab sample from a woman at the Fourways Life Hospital in Johannesburg. South Africa has reintroduced restrictions including a ban on alcohol sales.