New regulations could have consequences, expert warns
A professor of Public Health at UKZN says the latest changes to the Covid mask mandate is a positive move for South Africans but warns that there could be potential negative effects.
"It means then that the strict measures that were put in place to manage the disaster have to be relaxed, so there is a need for the state to relax these measures even when it comes to masking.
"We know from the studies that have been done people are fatigued and people get complacent and they don't necessarily wear masks all the time, so to make it easier for the people to comply, make them wear masks as minimal as possible then they are much likely to comply."
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Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Innovation at the institution, Professor Mosa Moshabela, says he's also concerned about long Covid and its effects.
"Covid-19 is spread especially when people when are in-door, that's where we want to protect people. I know in general, people are no longer concerned about infections per say because they are saying we must move from containment to mitigation.
"Personally, I am very much worried about the growing burden of long Covid and for that reason, I worry that we need to feel protectable from infection."
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