Basic Education: Wearing masks at school optional for pupils, teachers
Pupils and teachers will no longer need to wear masks on the school grounds or in classrooms.
"But if they wish to continue to do so, they should feel free to do so, but the announcement by the Department of Health is what the Department of Basic Education is aligning itself with," says Basic Education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga.
The department has welcomed the health minister's decision to lift the Covid-19 regulation of wearing face masks.
READ: South Africans finally wave goodbye to face masks
The amendment, which was gazetted on Wednesday night, repealed some restrictions, including the capacity limitations for indoor and outdoor gatherings.
Health Minister Joe Phaahla says they figured there was no more imminent risk as the fifth wave was dissipating.
"By mid-June, the situation had taken to a very positive direction with a decline in daily cases, a decline in hospitalizations, a decline in positivity rate, a decline in the reproductive number of the extent to which the virus replicates and infects the next person and also a decline in reported deaths."
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