South Africa lifted the midnight curfew, saying the country had passed the peak of its fourth COVID-19 wave driven by the omicron variant, officials announced on Thursday.
In a statement, the cabinet made the announcement but affirmed that wearing a face mask in public places remains mandatory.
The country imposed the curfew based on the trajectory of the pandemic, levels of vaccination in the country, and available capacity in the health sector, according to a press release issued by Mondli Gungubele, a minister in the presidency.
"All indicators suggest the country may have passed the peak of the fourth wave at a national level," the statement said.
The government pointed out that data from the Department of Health showed a 29.7% decrease in the number of new cases detected in the week ending December 25 compared with the number of cases found in the previous week, at 127,753.
South Africa reported about 3.5 million infections and 91,000 deaths. It has been the worst-hit country in Africa during the pandemic on both counts.
In addition to lifting the restrictions on public movement, the government also ruled that alcohol shops with licenses to operate after 11 p.m. local time may revert to full license conditions.
"While the omicron variant is highly transmissible, there have been lower rates of hospitalization than in previous waves," the statement added.
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