Two years after the announcement of a national State of Disaster was declared to deal with the Covid-19 outbreak, the President has said that it will finally be lifted. However this won't happen straight away.
It will be at least three weeks before this happens as the public consultation on the Health Regulations that will be used to control Covid-19 has to be completed first. The date for that is the 16th April.
There are some changes that will be made from Wednesday the 23rd March.
It will no longer be compulsory to wear masks when walking on the street or in an open space, when exercising outdoors or when attending an outdoor gathering. However they are still a requirement when at an indoor public space. Examples include shops, malls, public transport.
There are also changes to the regulations on international travel. Travellers entering South Africa will need to show proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test not older than 72 hours.
The regulations on social distancing are also being changed, requiring that a space of 1 metre is maintained between persons in all settings except schools.
The latest figures announced showed that fewer than 1000 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in the last 24 hours, and only one person had died from the illness in the last 48 hours.
