COVID-19: National State of Disaster to come to an end
The R350 SRD grant has been extended by a year to end of March 2023.
Speaking at the annual State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday night, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the government is shifting its strategy to mitigation of the Covid-19 virus, rather than containment. This means that in the coming weeks, South Africa could see the end of the National State of Disaster.
“We are now ready to enter a new phase in our management of the pandemic. It is our intention to end the National State of Disaster as soon as we have finalised other measures under the National Health Act and other legislation, to contain the pandemic,” said Ramaphosa.
The president also touched on the issue of Covid-19 related corruption which saw public officials working with companies and individuals to defraud the government of billions of rands. This resulted in the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) investigating extensively and finding that matters, with a combined value of R2.1-billion, have been enrolled with the Special Tribunal.
Ramaphosa added, “The SIU has referred 224 government officials for disciplinary action and referred 386 cases for possible prosecution to the National Prosecuting Authority. The Presidency has set up mechanisms to monitor implementation of SIU recommendations, and ensure government departments and entities act against those who have violated regulations and broken the law.”
Vaccines still a priority
Vaccines are still the best defence against the Covid-19 pandemic according to the president. “Over the past year, we have focused on accelerating our vaccine roll-out. So far, we have administered 30 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines.
Consequently, nearly 42% of all adults, and 60% of everyone over 50, is fully vaccinated,” he said. The president continued to urge the public, including those aged over 12, to get vaccinated and those above 18 years old to get their booster shots.
Those who received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine are eligible to receive a booster dose of the same vaccine after 180 days, while those who received the J&J vaccine are eligible for a booster shot of the same vaccine after 60 days.
The R350 Social Relief of Distress grant has been extended until the end of March 2023. The president stated that to date, more than 10 million unemployed people have benefitted from the grant. In the meantime, government will be looking at other, more permanent means of social relief, hinting at the possibility of the much talked about Basic Income Grant.
Changes in regulations
As of February 4, the national Department of Health has implemented changes, which include discontinuing the mandatory quarantining of Covid-19 contacts, and no longer requiring testing of contacts who are asymptomatic. Additionally, those who test positive and have symptoms will only need to isolate for seven days, down from 10, while those asymptomatic do not have to isolate. These changes are due to the large number of people with immunity to Covid-19, which has now risen to 60-80% in several sero-surveys.
On February 10, South Africa reported 3 169 new Covid-19 infections, bringing the cumulative number of cases to 3 634 811. A total of 22 591 175 tests had been conducted to date. A further 203 Covid-19 related deaths were reported in the previous 24 hours, bringing total fatalities to 96 705. Recoveries stood at 3 494 016. A total of 30 468 125 vaccines had been administered across the country.
Source: National Department of Health
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