New Covid-19 regulations to be published at midnight - Health Department
The Health Department says the new regulations to manage Covid-19 will be published at midnight on Wednesday.
In March, government lifted the national state of disaster due to the decrease in the number of Covid-19 infections and deaths.
The Act which was used to manage the disease for two years also fell away, and government instead introduced new draft regulations under the National Health Act to manage Covid-19 for 30 days.
The 30-day period is now about to lapse.
Health spokesperson Foster Mohale says the new regulations does not mean the public should lower their guard against Covid-19.
"The department is aware of the lapsing of the 30-day period of transitional measures, we can confirm that we will publish the new amendment health regulations by midnight today. Whether there a new rules or instruments what people should know is that we still have Covid-19, we don't have to lower our guard."
However Dr. Jo Barnes, an epidemiologist from Stellenbosch University, says some of the draft regulations in the National Health Act are impractical.
"Those regulations unfortunately really ill-conceived and misdirected because they are highly impractical and seems to be stuck in the early part of the pandemic when we were required to lockdown, isolate and quarantine all those things the government has since dropped. Some parts of the regulations will not stand scrutiny by the Constitutional Court, I don't think they will survive."
AfriForum’s Jacques Broodryk says the organisation believes the draft regulations are outside of the intended scope of the legislation.
"Should the government go ahead with their plans to permanently enshrine these regulations in law, AfriForum together with the public participation platform Dear SA, will launch court action against governments’ proposed regulations issued in terms of the National Health Act 61 of 2003 and the International Health Regulations Act 28 of 1974.
“AfriForum’s court documents have already been finalised and our legal team are standing by to fight these amendments immediately should they come into force. AfriForum will litigate to review the astoundingly and unjustifiable regulations.”
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