(Johannesburg) South Africa, which announced last week the end of the tracing of contact cases of people who tested positive for COVID-19, reversed this decision on Tuesday, which sparked many reactions on the merits of ‘such withdrawal.
“The health ministry has been inundated with questions and comments from the media, interested parties and the public,” he said in a statement. He therefore decided to “put the implementation of this measure on hold” and apologized “for the confusion and inconvenience caused”.
Last week, the Directorate General of Health announced the end of tracing, considering that the high level of immunity with vaccination and the large number of asymptomatic cases no longer made the device relevant.
“Most people have received at least one dose of the vaccine and have developed some level of immunity. This has contributed to the current low hospitalization rates and high cure rates, ”the ministry explains.
In addition, many people are asymptomatic and only a small percentage of them are diagnosed. However, many people “lose their income or precious time at school, by staying at home when they do not show symptoms,” he continues.
The measure provided that contact cases are no longer required to be tested unless symptoms appear. If they tested positive, they then had to isolate themselves. After ten days, they were no longer required to retest and were allowed to resume normal activity.
But ultimately, backtracking and “all existing regulations on contact tracing, quarantine and isolation remain applicable,” said the ministry.
South Africa is officially the most affected country on the continent by the pandemic, with nearly 3.4 million cases and more than 90,000 deaths.