By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
A special Cabinet meeting held earlier today,30 December 2021, has approved several changes to the Adjusted Alert Level 1 COVID-19 regulations.
This follows meetings of the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) and the President’s Coordinating Council (PCC), which received updates on the management of the current 4th wave of COVID-19 in South Africa, which is mainly driven by the Omicron variant, presidency said in a statement.
The information gathered through the system used by the Department of Health has reported a 29.7% decrease in the number of new cases detected in the week ending 25 Dec 2021 (89,781), compared to the number of new cases detected in the previous week (127,753), said presidency.
“All indicators suggest the country may have passed the peak of the fourth wave at a national level.”
“Cases declined in all provinces except the Western Cape and Eastern Cape, which recorded increases of 14% and 18%, respectively. There has been a decline in hospital admissions in all provinces except the Western Cape.”
While the Omicron variant is highly transmissible, there has been lower rates of hospitalisation than in previous waves. This means that the country has a spare capacity for admission of patients even for routine health services.
Based on the trajectory of the pandemic, the levels of vaccination in the country and the available capacity within the health sector, Cabinet has decided to make the following changes to Adjusted Alert Level 1 with immediate effect:
– The curfew will be lifted. There will therefore be no restrictions on the hours of movement of people.
– Gatherings are restricted to no more than 1 000 people indoors and no more than 2 000 people outdoors.
(Where the venue is too small to accommodate these numbers with appropriate social distancing, then no more than 50 per cent of the capacity of the venue may be used. All other restrictions remain in place).
– Alcohol establishments that have licences to operate beyond 23h00 will revert back to full licence conditions.
The NCCC will continue to closely monitor the situation and will make further adjustments as necessary, particularly if pressure on health facilities increases,presidency concluded.
Government wishes to commend all South Africans who have observed the health regulations and protocols over the festive season and urges everyone to continue to act cautiously and responsibly over the new year and for the remainder of the holiday season.