The world is racing to contain the spread of the highly contagious Delta strain of the Covid-19 virus, with South Africa, Australia and Thailand among the latest countries enforcing lockdowns and placing parts of the countries on high alert.
President Cyril Ramaphosa raised South Africa’s lockdown to Alert Level 4 as a deadly third wave pounds the country. He told citizens in a televised address last night that the average number of daily new infections was more than doubling, hospital admissions were rising, and deaths from Covid-19 were increasing by nearly 50%.
Under Level 4 measures most businesses will continue to operate at full capacity, with the focus on limiting social contacts while preserving the economy, he said.
Level 4 in a nutshell means that from today until Sunday 11 July:
- All gatherings – religious, political, social of any size – are prohibited
- Curfew is from 9pm to 4am
- Non-essential establishments must close by 8pm
- The sale of alcohol is completely banned
- Restaurants can only sell take-aways/do deliveries, i.e., not sit-downs
- Travel in and out of Gauteng for leisure is prohibited
- Travel between other provinces is still allowed within curfew times
- Schools (public and private) will start closing from Wednesday 30 June for holidays
- Contact classes at tertiary institutions will also close from Wednesday
- Outside of work, you should only meet with members of your household
- Funerals may not exceed 50 people
Meanwhile, South Africa has been bumped up to 2nd spot after India on the UK travel red list with local travellers entering the UK having to quarantine for 10 days and pay a hotel fee of £1,750 (over R34,000).
Here’s a roundup of the world’s top and most interesting headlines:
SA Business
AfriCrypt: ‘It wasn’t us’, say brothers – with no sign of R50bn they supposedly stole existed – Business Insider
Deliveries won’t save us, restaurant industry warns – News24
Cape Town, Joburg, Durban and Gqeberha ranked among the most violent cities in the world – Business Tech
US Business
How the world’s richest families teach their kids to hoard wealth and create billionaire ‘dynasties’ – NZ Herald
Gen Z investors taking more risks in the hunt to get rich quick, survey finds – Business Insider
Bitcoin billionaire issues stark warning over ‘trillion-dollar’ mistake amid extreme crypto price volatility – Forbes
In-depth
Part One: What Gupta enterprise corruption cost South Africa – Daily Maverick
Why Namibia could become the biggest oil story of the decade – Yahoo Finance
Mr Malusi ‘Win-Win’ Gigaba, the smooth political sycophant with a tragic post-apartheid legacy – Daily Maverick
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