Republic of South Africa Enter Into More Relaxed COVID-19 Restrictions Effective From Today

Eswatini Daily News
23 March 2022

Republic of South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa announces that as of today, Wednesday 23 March 2022, the country will enter into more relaxed COVID-19 restrictions.

The eased restrictions are as follows;

– A mask is not required when outdoors, like walking on the street or in an open space, when exercising outdoors or when attending an outdoor gathering. It is however required when in public indoor spaces; in shops, malls, offices, factories, taxis, buses, trains or any other indoor public space.

– Outdoor venues can now take up to 50 percent of their capacity provided that the criteria for entrance are proof of vaccination or a COVID test not older than 72 hours, but where there is no provision for proof of vaccination or a COVID test, then the current upper limit will remain – of 1,000 people indoors and 2,000 people outdoors.

-Funeral attendance will increase from 100 to 200, However, night vigils, after-funeral gatherings and ‘after-tears’ gatherings are not allowed.

– On social distancing, a space of 1 metre is maintained between persons in all settings except schools.

-Travelers entering South Africa will need to show proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test not older than 72 hours. All unvaccinated travelers entering the country who want to be vaccinated will be offered a vaccination.

“What should be clear is that the end of the National State of Disaster does not mean the end of the pandemic. It just means that we are changing the way we manage the pandemic, and we will be relying on health regulations rather than disaster management regulations. It means that we are learning to live with the virus in our presence. It means that we are returning, as far as possible, to the lives that we lived before the pandemic. It means that we are opening our economy still further, and that we are resuming many of the social and cultural activities that we have missed over the last two years.” Said President Ramaphosa.