Cabinet approves changes to level 1 Covid-19 regulations

Cabinet has approved changes to adjusted alert level 1 Covid-19 regulations, Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele has announced.

According to Gungubele, the changes were approved on Monday following meetings of the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) and the President’s Coordinating Council (PCC) which received updates on the management of Covid-19 in South Africa.

“The information gathered through the system used by the Department of Health has reported that South Africa has exited the fourth wave nationally,” said Gungubele.

Based on the trajectory of the pandemic and the levels of vaccination in the country, Cabinet has decided to make the following changes to Adjusted Alert Level 1 with immediate effect:

• Those who test positive with no symptoms do not have to isolate.
• If you test positive with symptoms, the isolation period has been reduced from 10 to 7 days.
• Contacts do not have to isolate unless they develop symptoms.

Primary, secondary and special schools will also return to daily attendance, with the regulatory provision for social distancing of 1 metre for pupils in schools no longer in place.

Gungubele said the Ministers of Health and Basic Education will, in the coming days, issue directives reflecting on the new alert level 1 regulations.

“The rationale for these amendments is informed by the proportion of people with immunity to Covid-19 which has risen substantially, exceeding 60-80% in several sero-surveys.”

South Africa on Monday recorded 71 new deaths and of these, 14 occurred in the past 24 to 48 hours.

This brings the total number of fatalities to 95,093, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, announced.

READ MORE: Covid-19 update: SA records 71 new deaths

The institute has also reported 1,366 new Covid-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3.605,222. This increase represents a 8.1% positivity rate.

“Government commends all South Africans who continue to observe Covid-19 regulations and protocols. We also remind those who are yet to get vaccinated to go for their Covid-19 vaccination and continue observing basic health protocols to prevent the transmission of the virus.”

Compiled by Vhahangwele Nemakonde