South Africa lifted 5-month ban on smoking

As part of a broader effort to ease control of the epidemic, South Africa’s president, ramafossa, announced on Saturday that the ban on smoking and alcohol would be lifted from midnight on August 17. But South African consumers, worried about a shortage of goods or a further ban in the future, began to rush after the ban was lifted on Tuesday, prompting a customer queuing up at a suburban Johannesburg cigarette store: “I have a feeling that we may be going back to level 3, which is why I have to buy more bags.”