COVID-19 Update | June 2022

Published: Tue, 06/28/22

COVID-19 Update | 28 June 2022

South Africans no longer required to wear face masks

South Africans no longer need to wear face masks

Health Minister, Joe Phaahla, after publishing the latest amendments in the Government Gazette on Wednesday evening, has confirmed that South Africans no longer have to wear face masks. This decision follows a meeting of the National Coronavirus Command Council, which weighed in on whether the remaining COVID-19 regulations were still relevant.

In addition to the repeal of South Africans wearing masks in indoor public places or on public transport, it also includes regulations for venues that were required to stick to 50% capacity for indoor gatherings on condition of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test.

The repeal also affects regulations requiring travellers to be vaccinated or to produce a negative PCR test.

According to SA Coronavirus, the total number of COVID-19 vaccines administered has also increased over the months with 18.3 million (46%) of the South African population reported to have now been fully vaccinated.

>Source: ENCA

NICD races to track monkeypox cases after Joburg man tests positive

As South Africans celebrate the fact that they don’t have to wear masks any longer, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases is carrying out contact tracing to identify individuals who might have been in contact with a 30-year-old male residing in the Gauteng province who is said to be the first case of monkeypox in the country. It is also reported that the individual had no recent travel history, which indicates that the disease is being transmitted in the community. Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, confirmed on Thursday that the first case of monkeypox has been found in South Africa and has cautioned citizens to remain calm and not panic. There is currently a global outbreak of the disease that has been flagged by the World Health Organization. The NICD has also indicated that the monkeypox virus has no specific groups for infections and is very different from COVID-19. Monkeypox is not as highly transmissible and has a low rate of mortality (death).

How monkeypox and COVID-19 differ:

It needs close contact with an infected person for transmission, like kissing, sexual contact or close contact with a contaminated item like bed linen;
It is not particularly contagious;
It has a low fatality rate.

The symptoms are the following:

Lesions on or around the genitalia
Skin rash, particularly on hands and feet
Fever
Painful lymph nodes
Oral ulcers
Flu-like symptoms

Source: News24 & Daily Maverick

Sincerely,

Kaelo

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