The previously mandatory self-isolation has been lifted, said the responsible department head Ramphelane Morewane on Friday the TV broadcaster eNCA. It only applies to mass infections in large crowds.
The ministry thus followed the recommendations of a team of advisors. According to this, tests will only be necessary in the future if the corresponding symptoms occur. A ten-day quarantine is still required for infected people, after which tests are no longer necessary.
The reasons for the relaxation were among other things with new findings on the Omikron variant and studies, according to which around 70 percent of the very young population of the Cape State already had an infection.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) only presented a study on Wednesday that indicates a rather mild disease course of the coronavirus variant Omikron compared to the Delta variant. Based on previous data, the probability of hospital admission was given as up to 80 percent lower than with the Delta variant.
With the onset of the summer holidays in South Africa, the new Coronavirus variant Omikron is now spreading nationwide – but seems to be losing momentum in the previous epicenter around the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria (Gauteng Province) and two neighboring provinces. In contrast, the number of cases is now increasing dramatically, especially in the coastal provinces. The NICD therefore did not want to confirm that the peak of the fourth wave of infections was exceeded nationwide. South Africa is currently on the lowest level of a five-digit alarm system with relatively few restrictions.
In South Africa, the omicron variant dominates the infection process. The greater area around the metropolis of Johannesburg and the capital Pretoria had a share of up to 80 percent of the daily new infections nationwide. The number of hospital admissions is lower than that of previous waves of infection.