Puerto Rico is banning alcohol, weddings, and concerts after midnight following a spike in COVID-19 cases and deaths

• Puerto Rico's governor has announced new COVID-19 restrictions beginning September 2.
• Alcohol sales, weddings, and concerts are set to be banned between midnight and 5 a.m.
• People will be required to wear a mask outside if they're in a crowd of 50 or more.

Puerto Rico is preparing to roll out new measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, Governor Pedro Pierluisi announced on Monday.

From September 2, people on the Caribbean island will be banned from buying and drinking alcohol in public between midnight and 5 a.m., Pierluisi said at a news conference on Monday. Social gatherings, including weddings, concerts, and birthdays, will also be prohibited between these hours, Pierluisi said.

Puerto Rico has reported more than 170,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and over 2,800 deaths during the pandemic, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

In the past 14 days, there has been a 61% increase in deaths from COVID-19 and a 36% increase in hospitalizations, according to The New York Times tracker.

Certain private businesses that serve the public between midnight and 5 a.m. will have to close within these hours. These businesses include sales and entertainment companies, but gas stations and supermarkets are excluded, Pierluisi said.

People in Puerto Rico will also be required to wear masks outside if they are in a crowd of 50 people or more, Pierluisi said. Masks are already mandated in indoor public spaces in Puerto Rico.

Elective surgeries involving the use of intensive care units will be banned, Pierluisi said.

The rules are set to remain in place until September 23.

Read more: New York's new governor revealed the state undercounted COVID deaths by 12,000. Andrew Cuomo should face criminal investigations for the fiasco.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday designated Puerto Rico as Level 4 on its scale of COVID-19 risk, its most-serious category. People traveling to the island must be fully vaccinated, the CDC said.

"I respect the freedoms of our citizens and I would prefer not to have to be ordering these limitations, but public health is paramount," Pierluisi said, according to a translated version of the press release.

The Puerto Rico governor's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

"We have lost a lot, and we are unwilling to continue losing more lives to this terrible virus," Carlos Mellado, Puerto Rico's secretary of health, said, according to the translated press release. "We want our population well and healthy. We all want to have the freedoms of before, but we still have a way to go."

Mellado also noted that 81.4% of the working population had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 and 70% have received both doses.

Today's announcement coincides with Puerto Ricans needing to present vaccination certificates to enter places like gyms, casinos and beauty salons, according to the Associated Press. In addition, supermarket employees are required to present proof of vaccination from Monday.