OK, state of disaster stays for now, but at least we can bask with no mask

The national state of disaster will go, but not for now.

This was President Cyril Ramaphosa’s message on Tuesday, almost two years to the day since Covid-19 restrictions were announced in 2020.

Ramaphosa announced some key changes to the restrictions his government put in place to combat the spread of the virus, but despite pressure from opposition parties and other organisations to end the national state of disaster, he did not.

“We are now at a watershed moment. We are now ready to enter a new phase in our management of the pandemic,” he said. But he only announced the “intention” to lift the national state of disaster.

“Due to the changing nature of the pandemic, and the progress that has been made through our collective efforts, we intend to lift the national state of disaster as soon as public comment on the health regulations published by the minister of health has been completed,” he said.

“These regulations, when finalised, will replace the state of disaster regulations as the legal instrument that we use to manage the pandemic.”

The president invited South Africans to make comments on the draft regulations before April 16.

We are now at a watershed moment. We are now ready to enter a new phase in our management of the pandemic.

—  President Cyril Ramaphosa

He warned that the end of the national state of disaster will not mean the end of the pandemic. “It just means that we are changing the way we manage the pandemic. We will be relying on health regulations rather than disaster management regulations.”

It also means South Africans were learning to live with the virus and that the country was returning as far as possible to life before the pandemic. This meant a further opening up of the economy and the resumption of many of the social and cultural activities that came to a halt since the introduction of restrictions, he said.

SA has been on alert level one since October.

In further easing the restrictions, Ramaphosa said his advisors looked to the experiences of other countries, including those where the complete lifting of restrictions had been followed by a surge in infections and deaths.

But they also considered that after four waves of infection, fewer people were becoming severely ill and requiring hospitalisation, and there were far fewer deaths than before, he said.

“Our scientists tell us that this is mainly because some 60% to 80% of the population has some form of immunity to the virus, either from previous infection or vaccination.”

And from the experience of the past two years, the health services had learnt to manage the disease more effectively.

Most importantly, 48% of all adults had received at least one vaccine dose, he said.

Ramaphosa announced that cabinet had decided to ease several restrictions as part of adjusted alert level one.

While in previous regulations the emphasis was on placing an upper limit on the number of people who could attend a gathering, now both indoor and outdoor venues would be allowed to take up to 50% of their capacity, provided that the criteria for entrance were met, these being proof of vaccination or a Covid test are not older than 72 hours. Where there was no provision for proof of vaccination or a Covid test, the current upper limit would remain — of 1,000 people indoors and 2,000 people outdoors.

This change to the restrictions on gatherings would be of great benefit to the sporting, cultural, entertainment and events industries in particular, he said.

This means people who were vaccinated or had recently tested negative would be able to return to watching sports in stadiums and attending music concerts, theatre performances, conferences and other events.

The maximum number of people permitted at a funeral would increase from 100 to 200. But night vigils, after-funeral gatherings and “after-tears” gatherings remained prohibited.

The wearing of masks remained mandatory when in public indoor space. However they were not required outdoors.

The regulations on social distancing were also being changed, now requiring that a space of one metre be maintained between people in all settings except schools.

Travellers entering SA would need to show proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test not older than 72 hours, while all unvaccinated travellers entering the country who wanted to be vaccinated would be offered a vaccination.

These measures would take effect from Wednesday, once the new regulations were gazetted.