Covid-19 weekly round-up: What we know about the Delta variant

In his address to the nation on Sunday evening, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the Delta variant is currently driving the increase of infections in the country's third wave.Show more

The variant, which was first detected in India at the end of March, has now been found in 85 countries around the world.

Ramaphosa said it is thought to be twice as contagious and more transmissible than the Beta variant which dominated the second wave in South Africa.

There is now emerging scientific evidence that people previously infected with the Beta variant do not have full protection against the Delta variant, and may get re-infected.

The Delta variant has now been detected in five provinces, including the Eastern Cape, the Free State, Gauteng, Kwazulu-Natal and the Western Cape.

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), the Delta variant was first detected in South Africa in the beginning of May after four people tested positive for the variant.

Two cases were from Gauteng and two from KwaZulu-Natal.

Alcohol ban, schools to close: Here are the level 4 restrictions

South Africa has been moved to adjusted alert level 4 for the next two weeks.

On Sunday evening President Cyril Ramaphosa announced tighter restrictions that include a ban on alcohol, a tightened curfew, school closures and a restriction on gatherings.

He said government will assess the impact of the new restrictions after 14 days to determine whether they need to be maintained or adjusted.

- All gatherings are prohibited, including religious, political, cultural and social gatherings.
– The sale of alcohol both for on-site and off-site consumption is prohibited.
– The new curfew is between 9pm to 4am.
– In Gauteng, travel in and out of the province for leisure purposes will be prohibited, exceptions are for work, business or transit purposes.
– Funerals may not exceed 50 people
- The closure of schools and other educational institutions will be brought forward and schools will start closing from Wednesday.

SA opens up vaccinations to people under 60

Acting Health Minister, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane announced on Friday that those aged 50 and above are able to register for the Covid-19 vaccine and will be able to receive their shots from the 15th of July.

She said that government was worried about the decrease in the demand for vaccine for people aged 60 and over.

Deputy director-general of the Health Department Dr Nicholas Crisp said that only half of the targeted population in the over 60s group have registered on the Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS) to receive their shot.

He said the registration of people on the EVDS system has been by far better in rural areas than in urban areas.

Keep an eye out next week for another roundup of the top Covid-19 stories.

kelly.turner@africannewsagency.com