South Africa has officially entered a second wave of the novel Coronavirus Pandemic, as the number of infections per day exceeds 6,000.
The Health Minister Zwelini Mkhize in a televised address said that infections stood at over 828,000 cases with deaths at more than 22,500, the most on the continent.
With daily cases at around 15,000 in July, it raises concerns that restrictions to limit the spread could be tightened.
“The increases are shown in about six of the provinces and that is why it is important for us to now recognise this is a second wave,” Mkhize said in a televised address.
South Africa is experiencing a resurgence of new cases in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape. President Cyril Ramaphosa last week tightened rules in the Eastern Cape province but stopped short of a wider crackdown.
Mkhize also expressed concern that, in the last two days, the age distribution of new cases has peaked in those who are between 15 to 19 year of age.
School students who attended a series of end-of-year parties were urged on Sunday to enter 10 days of quarantine, after identifying four such parties as “super-spreader events”