South Africa is considering several non-pharmaceutical measures to prepare for the next phase of the Covid pandemic, says Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
Medical experts and government officials met this week to discuss lifting the country’s national state of disaster and replacing it with long-term regulations to manage Covid spread.
In an address to traditional leaders on Thursday, Dlamini-Zuma said some of the proposals which had been tabled by the Department of Health included:
- Scrapping the requirement for wearing masks outdoors, though retaining the measure for indoor gatherings;
- Maintaining social distancing, but reducing distancing from 1.5m to 1m;
- Allowing venues to fill half their floor space, provided people are vaccinated; and
- Retaining hand-washing and sanitizing ‘forever’, as these remained part and parcel of good hygiene.
The government is expected to provide clarity on updated Covid regulations, and the status of the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC), in the coming days.
South Africa’s state of disaster is set to expire on 15 March – 24 months since it was first declared in March 2020.
Ramaphosa has previously indicated that the latest state of disaster extensionwill be the last, with the government now expected to introduce more permanent long-term regulations to help manage Covid in the country.
The IRR has been campaigning for months for the disbandment of the NCCC, warning in a letter to President Ramaphosa and Dlamini-Zuma in November last year that extending the life of the unelected command council is undermining democracy.
[Image: https://pixabay.com/photos/coronavirus-virus-mask-corona-4914026/]