South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that the country’s national state of disaster, which has been in place for more than two years in response to COVID-19, will end from midnight local time on Monday, reported Reuters.
Ramaphosa said the national state of disaster, which was first declared on 15 March 2020, has been the main mechanism of the government in the fight against the pandemic. He said removing it will do away with the vast majority of remaining COVID-19 restrictions, except for a few that will remain in place on a transitional basis.
“While the pandemic is not over, while the virus remains amongst us, these conditions no longer require we remain in a national state of disaster,” the South African president said in a televised address referencing far lower rates of hospitalization and deaths during the country’s fourth wave of infections.
South Africa, which was worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, has been in an ‘adjusted level 1’ lockdown, or the lowest of a five-tier system since October.
Amid a consistent drop in the number of new coronavirus cases, Ramaphosa eased restrictions further in March. The five-tier lockdown system and the criminalization of non-adherence to such rules will be among the measures ended when the state of disaster expires.
The South African president said the transitional measures that still continue to be in place, such as a requirement to wear masks indoors, rules for travelers, and a directive that enables the payment of a special relief grant, will lapse after 30 days. After that, more permanent regulations are expected to help the government manage COVID-19 going forward.
He reassured South Africans that the COVID-19 Vaccine Injury No-Fault Compensation Scheme would remain in place.
According to South African health authorities, the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths stood at over 3.7 million and 100,052 respectively as of Monday.
