South Africa's COVID Cases Double, Prompting More Lockdown Measures

COVID-19 cases in South Africa have nearly doubled over the past two weeks, prompting a return to tighter restrictions on public gatherings and liquor sales.

New cases jumped from 6.69 per 100,000 people on May 31 to 12.71 new cases per 100,000 people on June 14, according to Johns Hopkins University.

President Cyril Ramaphosa told the Associated Press that hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have also increased by almost 60 percent over that period of time.

"Our priority now is to make sure there are enough hospital beds, enough health workers, enough ventilators, and enough oxygen to give the best possible care to every person who needs it," Ramaphosa said.

"The massive surge in new infections means that we must once again tighten restrictions on the movement of persons and gatherings," he added.

The nightly curfew was extended by an hour from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. and religious gatherings indoors are now limited to 50 people. Only 50 people are allowed to gather for social events indoors, while 100 can gather for events outdoors. From Monday through Thursday, the sale of alcohol is only permitted between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.

South Africa has been the country hardest hit by the pandemic in the entire continent, with a cumulative total of more than 1.7 million infections, including 57,000 deaths, accounting for nearly 40 percent of Africa's total confirmed cases.

The new restrictions come as South Africa also battles to sustain a vaccination drive that has faced delays from global vaccine shortages and this week the news that it must discard 2 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine due to factory contamination in the United States.

Johnson & Johnson had promised to deliver 2 million of its single-shot doses by the end of June, but that is now viewed as being in jeopardy because of the recent ruling by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that a large amount of J&J vaccines were contaminated by a problem at a factory producing a component of the vaccine. About 480,000 of South Africa's health care workers have been vaccinated with J&J doses.

Doses of the Pfizer vaccine are being used to inoculate people aged 60 and over. About 1.4 million people have received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. According to Ramaphosa, South Africa is expecting to receive 3.1 million Pfizer doses by the end of June.