Health regulation overhaul goes on

The department of health will press ahead with controversial plans to update the regulations for managing notifiable diseases. The draft regulations in the National Health Act and International Health Regulations Act have drawn extensive criticism.

The department of health will press ahead with its controversial plans to update the regulations for managing notifiable diseases, despite scrapping SA’s last remaining coronavirus curbs on Wednesday night.

The draft regulations to the National Health Act and International Health Regulations Act have drawn extensive criticism, and face legal challenge from several quarters. The deadline for public comment is August 5.

In a notice published in the government gazette on Wednesday night, health minister Joe Phaahla repealed three regulations relating to the surveillance and control of notifiable conditions, opening the way for the tourism, leisure, and entertainment sectors to operate as normal. But his department’s plans for an extensive overhaul of the legislative framework for managing notifiable diseases and pandemics remain unchanged.

Masks are no longer required in indoor public settings or on public transport, limits on the size of gatherings have been scrapped, and travellers to SA no longer need to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative PCR test.

“We have reached a major turning point since the outbreak of Covid-19 [began],” Phaala said, emphasising that the restrictions have been lifted because the threat of Covid-19 has receded.

His proposal to scrap the regulations were unanimously supported by premiers and mayors at Wednesday’s presidential coordinating council meeting, and endorsed by the cabinet, he said.

All the main Covid-19 indicators measured by the government, including daily cases, hospital admissions and the test positivity rated have plummeted since the peak of the fifth wave, Phaala said.

Organisations such as care homes, schools and businesses will determine themselves whether to continue requiring masks on their premises, he said.

The National Health Laboratory Service’s Koleka Mlisana, who co-chairs the minister’s advisory committee on Covid19, said since the disease is now endemic in SA, it is appropriate to focus on mitigating the risk of the disease, rather than trying to contain it.

“This moves us away from mandatory actions ... to health promotion,” she said, emphasising the value of continuing to wear face masks in certain settings, such as hospitals and clinics. She advised anyone who knows they have a respiratory illness, such as tuberculosis or influenza, to wear a mask.

Basic education minister Angie Motshekga said she supports the repeal of the regulations requiring face masks, and they are no longer a requirement in schools.

Pupils and staff who wish to continue wearing masks could do so, she added. The department of basic education will continue to support the vaccination of children 12 years and older, Motshekga said.