[imagesource: Kevin Kobs / Getty Images]

Keys.

Phone.

Wallet.

You’re good to go, you’re out of the house, you’re almost at the shops and bang, you realise you forgot your mask – a COVID-19 tale for the ages.

This could soon be a thing of the past. South Africa’s face mask regulations were amended earlier this year to do away with wearing masks outside in public, and now we may be nearing the end of all mask mandates.

IOL reports:

Cabinet is expected to make a decision soon on the continued mandatory wearing of face masks. This comes on the back of recommendations from National Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla.

In a letter, dated June 20, 2022, Phaahla also recommended that regulations be changed regarding the number of people allowed at gatherings.

Ah, well that would have been nice to sort out ahead of last weekend’s URC final between the Stormers and the Bulls.

Still, the atmosphere was Cape Town Stadium was electric and the Stormers came out on top so we march on.

“We have been monitoring the epidemic working with the NICD and the current epidemiological analysis, points towards lower infection rates and that the country has exited the recent spike or 5th wave which the current limited regulations were promulgated to mitigate,” the letter reads.

We may just be edging ever closer to ‘a return to normal’, whatever that means.

Last night, the outspoken Professor Shabir Madhi shared Phaahla’s letter on social media:

At long last coming to grips with the reality. Effective end of Covid restrictions. Now to work on the collateral economic and other damage of what was self inflicted due to stubbornness of not following the science. pic.twitter.com/Z57XHOVd9k

— Shabir Madhi (@ShabirMadh) June 20, 2022

The national health department has confirmed that the letter, which also outlines how regulations dealing with entry limitations on South Africa’s borders are not needed at present, is authentic.

Current regulations in place in South Africa stipulate that the wearing of a face mask is mandatory for every person when in an indoor public place, and gatherings are permitted at 50% of a venue’s capacity as long as certain vaccine and testing criteria are met.

I’m just about ready to put my mask away for good, although I will miss the veil of secrecy it provides during shopping trips.

[source:iol]