What will happen to face masks after 30 days? Phaahla says fate will be contained in final health regulations

06 April 2022 - 12:26
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Health minister Joe Phaahla says the fate of face masks and PRC tests post the 30 day period will be contained in the final health regulations.
Health minister Joe Phaahla says the fate of face masks and PRC tests post the 30 day period will be contained in the final health regulations.
Image: Freddy Mavunda

Health minister Joe Phaahla says the fate of face masks and PRC tests after the 30-day transition period will be contained in the final health regulations.

Addressing the media on Tuesday, Phaahla said amendments have been gazetted for public comment until April 16. 

The regulations are intended to ensure that the country has mechanisms to control and manage the resurgence of Covid-19 after the lifting of the national state of disaster. 

What Ramaphosa said

Addressing the nation on Monday, president Cyril Ramaphosa, said transitional measures, including wearing of face masks, will remain in place for 30 days.

This is to “ensure essential public health precautions and other necessary services are not interrupted while the new regulations under the National Health Act come into effect”.

“We will still be required to wear a face mask in an indoor public space. This is necessary to prevent transmission in high-risk places, especially while many people remain unvaccinated.”

What Phaahla said

Phaahla said the changes in the final health regulations will not be new laws but amendments. 

“We continue to receive enquiries about the fate of face masks, PRC tests post the 30-day period of the transitional measures and we reiterate that all these will be contained in the final health regulations.

“We urge people to use this window period to help us shape the proposed health regulations to ensure they reflect the views and aspirations of our people as far as managing the current and future pandemics is concerned.”

The regulations will also deal with requirements for people entering the country, such as producing a vaccination certificate and/or negative PCR test not older than 72 hours. 

“Unless something drastic happens, prevention measures such as indoor mask use is still important,” he said. 

Government is not trying to control you

Phaahla dismissed suggestions that government is trying to control South Africans through Covid-19 regulations.

He took a swipe at opposition parties who described the proposed regulations as draconian.

“Some are accusing the health department of taking over from the disaster act to control people’s lives, but remember, this is not the first notifiable disease we are dealing with. We have had listeriosis, an ebola scare and others.

“Other political parties allege we want to control people’s lives and now it is going to be the health department doing that. That is far from the truth. We need public health measures that make us safe and allow us to carry on with our lives,” said Phaahla. 


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