The Department of Health in the Western Cape is encouraging voluntary wearing of masks especially by the elderly and people with underlying chronic conditions.
The department says while welcoming the scrapping of the wearing of masks announced by government, it has urged people to be mindful of their vulnerability as COVID-19 is still around.
Head of Operations in the Department Dr Saadiq Kariem says masks have proven to provide protection against airborne diseases.
“We encourage voluntary wearing of masks where applicable, this will be for people with flu symptoms, people with underlying chronic conditions and the elderly. Our data continues to show that vaccination offers the greatest protection against infection and death and therefore we implore anyone of 12 years and over to get their vaccination up to date including their boosters, we know that COVID is not gone but we are learning to live with it”
South Africans no longer required to wear face masks indoors
This after Health Minister Joe Phaahla gazetted a number of changes to COVID-19 regulations.
Limitations on gatherings as well as testing and vaccination requirements for visitors to South Africa are also scrapped.
These regulations were implemented as part of the national state of disaster since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country, two years ago.
Prof. Alex van den Heever on the lifting of regulations:
Below is the cabinet media briefing on the recent changes:
Meanwhile, the country has recorded 1 028 new COVID-19 cases, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed infections to 3 989 007. This increase represents a 5.3% positivity rate.
According to the NICD, “The Department of Health reports 57 deaths and of these six deaths occurred in the past 24 to 48 hours. The cumulative COVID-19 deaths are 101697 to date.”
25 637 671 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors.
