<span style="color: #222222;">South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa reimposed restrictions for two weeks to combat a surge in the highly contagious Corona virus Delta variant.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The worst-hit country on the continent is facing a massive resurgence of infection, the President said in a televised address to the nation on Sunday.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The health facilities are stretched to the limit. ICU beds are in short supply, he said, as he placed the country on level four, just one level below a full lockdown.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Mr Ramaphosa banned all gatherings, except for funerals where numbers will be capped at 50 and also ordered a ban on the sale of alcohol.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Eateries and restaurants will not be allowed to serve sit-down meals, and will only be allowed to sell food for take-away or delivery.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">A night time curfew has been lengthened by an hour – starting at 9 p.m. till 4 a.m., while all schools should be shut by Friday.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Authorities said, the peak of the third wave — fuelled by the Delta variant will surpass that of earlier waves as the country struggles to quickly roll out vaccinations.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">South Africa now counts 19,28,897 Corona virus cases after recording 15,036 new cases on Sunday, a drop from the previous day when 18,762 new infections were diagnosed.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The COVID-19 death count stands at 59,900.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The country's vaccination drive has been slow. Around 2.7 million people have been immunized since February. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">But, Mr Ramaphosa said, the inoculation exercise has gained momentum.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The World Health Organization said on Friday that the Delta variant had reached at least 85 countries.</span><br />''  <br />