Cape Town - South Africans cheered the government's decision to lift its midnight curfew after nearly two years of COVID-19 restrictions, a relief for businesses and citizens just ahead of New Year celebrations.

On Thursday South Africa became the first country to say it believed it had passed the peak of a wave of coronavirus infections caused by the highly contagious Omicron variant.

The government said it made the changes to lockdown restrictions based on the trajectory of the pandemic, levels of vaccination and available capacity in the health sector.

But the government said people should keep getting vaccinated and observing health protocols, including the mandatory wearing of masks in public places.

"We must ensure that our actions, our behaviour and our decisions over this festive season and beyond do not lead to more infections, more people ending up in hospitals and more deaths," President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his New Year message to the nation on Friday.

With close to 3.5 million infections and just over 91,000 deaths, South Africa has recorded the highest caseload and death toll in Africa during the pandemic. It recorded more than 20,000 infections a day during the fourth wave, which peaked in mid-December.

The country reported nearly 13,000 new cases on Thursday. Data showed a 29.7% decrease in the number of new cases detected in the week ending Dec. 25 compared to the previous week, the government said.
Source : Reuters