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8.21pm GMT
South Africa imposed further COVID-19 restrictions on Monday, closing down beaches on the eastern coast and limiting large public gatherings ahead of the festive season, as the country looks to slow a sharp rise in infections.
South Africa, which has recorded 866,127 total coronavirus cases, has seen a sharp spike in infections since the start of December with reported cases hovering around 8,000 per day in last few days, from around 3,000 in November.
The country’s reported daily cases in the first wave peaked at around 14,000 in July.
Given the rate at which new cases have grown over the last two weeks, there is every possibility that if we do not act urgently … the second wave will be more severe than the first wave,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a televised address.
8.10pm GMT
Black and minority ethnic groups suffered a “triple whammy of threats” to their mental health, incomes, and life expectancy that left them more vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic when it took hold earlier this year, according to the UK government’s official statistics body.
Research from the Office for National Statistics into the wellbeing of different ethnic groups in the UK showed that 27% of people from black backgrounds reported in April finding it difficult to make financial ends meet, compared with less than 10% among most white groups.
Related: BAME groups hit by Covid ‘triple whammy’, official UK study finds
