Amendments to Covid-19 regulations gazetted

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This follows a statement by President Cyril Ramaphosa which lifts the curfew, among other things.

Changes to the Adjusted Alert Level 1 Covid-19 regulations were approved at a special Cabinet meeting on Thursday.

Cabinet made the decision to further ease the regulations following a sustained decrease in infections, hospitalisation and Covid-19 related deaths following the Delta variant, and an increase in vaccinations.

The following amendment are now applicable under Adjusted Alert Level 1:

• The curfew has been lifted for now, and government will closely monitor the effects going forward.
  
• The maximum number of people permitted to gather indoors is increased to 1000, and the maximum number of people permitted to gather outdoors is 2000. Where the venue is too small to accommodate these numbers with appropriate social distancing, then no more than 50% of the capacity of the venue may be used. This includes religious services, political events and social gatherings, as well as restaurants, bars, taverns and similar places.
  
• The sale of alcohol is permitted for both off-site and on-site consumption, as per normal licence provisions.
  
• The wearing of masks in public places is still mandatory, and failure to wear a mask when required remains a criminal offence.

“We thank all South African who have continued to support government efforts to contain the pandemic. We urge them to continue to do so until the pandemic is completely under control,” said the department in the statement.

It urged those who are not yet vaccinated from the age of 12 years to so urgently in an effort to mitigate the challenges brought by Covid-19.