South Africa’s COVID-19 restrictions eased further
With the continued decline in COVID-19 infections in South Africa, the following measures have been put in place by Government with effect from 23 March 2022:
South Africa remains on Alert Level 1.
Gatherings
No more than 50% of venue capacity:
- With proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test not older than 72 hours: no upper limit on numbers.
- Without proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test not older than 72 hours: upper limit of 1 000 indoors and 2 000 outdoors.
Masks
Must be worn in indoor public spaces. Don’t have to be worn outdoors.
Funerals
No more than 200 people.
Source:
https://sacoronavirus.co.za/2022/03/22/statement-by-president-cyril-ramaphosa-on-progress-in-the-national-effort-to-contain-the-covid-19-pandemic-22-march-2022/
When will SA’s 5th COVID-19 wave hit?
South Africa is likely to see its next wave of COVID-19 infections within the coming months, says epidemiologist Professor Salim Abdool Karim.
Based on previous waves, South Africa is at the start of a three-month ‘lull’ during which it can ease restrictions and prepare for the next wave.
Prof Karim stressed that it was impossible to tell what the next COVID wave will be or what the next COVID-19 variant could be – as it does not exist yet. He added that government has to be prepared to reinstitute new restrictions based on what that new variant will look like.
“We work on a rough basis that we will get a new wave every three months. The Omicron wave ended about two weeks ago, so that means we now have about three months, and we can predict that we will likely see the fifth wave around the end of April or thereabouts.”
“It will be driven by a new variant and it is unlikely that Omicron will be coming back again. The issue is that nobody can predict what the new variant will look like.”
Karim said that if South Africa had a higher level of vaccination – around 70% – it could further relax restrictions as there would be less of a risk of overwhelming hospitals. However, he noted that the country is only at a 30% (full) vaccination rate, and while past infections do give some protection, it is not at the same level as being vaccinated.
If the country was highly vaccinated, the government could quite readily lift most remaining restrictions – with the exception of one or two restrictions such as mass indoor gatherings as well as indoor mask mandates, he said.
Source:
https://businesstech.co.za/news/trending/558410/when-the-fifth-covid-19-wave-is-expected-to-hit-south-africa-expert/
