Pretoria - Health Minister Joe Phaahla said health experts are observing growing disregard for Covid-19 regulations, including some individuals not wearing masks and community members continuing to gather in large numbers particularly for funerals.
“There has been definitely concern in government and also as we interact with various leaders of society that there is, in many areas where we go, where you find that people are not wearing the masks as is required and expected. Also, in terms of social gatherings including funerals, in some communities the respect for the maximum of 50 people is not strictly being adhered to,” Phaahla addressed journalists on Friday morning.
“We often hear the words ‘Covid fatigue’ and these are explanations or excuses which many of our compatriots give quite often when there is no compliance.”
On Thursday, a further 317 people succumbed to Covid-19-related illnesses, taking South Africa's total death count to 78 694.
The National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) said 13 672 new infections were recorded on Thursday, taking the country's total Covid-19 case count to 2 652 652.
“This increase represents a 19.9% positivity rate. A total of 15 821 074 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors," the NICD reported.
The majority of new cases today are from KwaZulu-Natal (29%), followed by Western Cape (27%). Eastern Cape accounted for 11%; Gauteng accounted for 12%; Free State accounted for 6%; Mpumalanga accounted for 5%; Northern Cape and North West accounted for 4% each, and Limpopo accounted for 2%.
Phaahla on Friday appealed to South African communities to respect the Covid-19 regulations.
“It is in our best interest to observe the regulations. This is not a form of some punishment but a form of protecting our lives, protecting our loved ones and everybody around us. Our society should not depend on policing. We know that in terms of disaster management regulations, being in the public without a mask or just having a mask hanging not covering your nose and mouth is a violation of the regulations,” said Phaahla.
“We would not want our society to rely on law enforcement but rather on social solidarity that we are doing these things to protect ourselves and the people around us. It is understandable that we have been in this for more than one and half years, going to two years now, but these are the basic tools which we have in our midst. We have now added the additional tool of vaccination.”
From Friday, South Africa opened up Covid-19 vaccinations for people aged between 18 and 35 years as the government intensified efforts to vaccinate the population devastated by the pandemic.
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African News Agency (ANA)