A health worker fills up a syringe with a vaccines dose against COVID-19 as people queue at the Kya Sands informal settlement to be vaccinated by the Witkoppen clinic in Johannesburg on December 8, 2021. (Photo for illustration by EMMANUEL CROSET / AFP)
South Africa is poised to get its life back as the country prepares to move away from the national state of disaster and deal with Covid as just another infectious disease.
But, experts say, care is going to have to be taken to ensure new health regulations are equally as effective as modifying people’s behaviour through tough measures under the state of disaster laws.
It has been 700 days since the state of disaster was declared in 2020 but the numbers – of infections but, more importantly, of hospitalisations and deaths – are showing the disease is far less of a threat than it was previously.
University of Pretoria associate professor for health systems and public health Dr Elize Webb said it was time for the country to return to normal because both the Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer vaccines had made a difference.
“What is important is to remember the vaccine uptake in the older age groups known to be more at risk have been quite good,” she said.
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“The hospitalisation rate is a bit lower now, meaning there is not big stress on hospitals, and they can go back to their normal activities, like before.”
Health Minister Joe Phaahla on Thursday said his department was amending the National Health Act regulations so the country could move out of the state of disaster.
“We are hoping that by next week there should be a national coronavirus command council meeting where alternative regulations can be presented.” Phaahla said the health regulations would ensure there were enough protective measures to replace the Disaster Management Act.
The regulations would cover surveillance and control of notifiable diseases, public health measures at points of entry, management of human remains and environmental health. Health department spokesperson Foster Mohale said the amendments would cover how to regulate and manage Covid and other future pandemics.
The national state of disaster cannot end when there is no law which will do what the Disaster Management Act was doing.
– lungas@citizen.co.za
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