South Africa Drops Self-Isolation for Asymptomatic Covid Cases

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa dropped a requirement for people who test positive for Covid-19 but have no symptoms to self isolate, a marked turnaround from its initial approach to the virus when it implemented one of the world's strictest lockdowns.

The move, announced after a special Cabinet meeting on Monday, puts it at odds with its neighbors and main trading partners, including the U.K., traditionally South Africa's biggest source of foreign tourists. The government also cut the isolation period for those infected with symptomatic Covid-19 to seven days from 10, and will no longer require contacts of those infected to isolate.

“The rationale for these amendments is informed by the proportion of people with immunity to Covid-19 which has risen substantially,” the Cabinet said, citing blood surveys that show between 60% and 80% of South Africans have had a prior coronavirus infection.

South Africa, which was the first country to experience an omicron-driven surge of infections, is the hardest-hit nation in Africa in terms of confirmed infections and deaths. So far, 3.6 million people have tested positive for the disease and more than 95,000 of them have died.

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Still, as the blood surveys show, most cases aren't picked up and excess deaths data, which measures the number of deaths compared with a historical average, shows the toll may be three times as high.

Shabir Madhi, a vaccinologist who led vaccine trials in South Africa for AstraZeneca Plc and Novavax Inc., said that given the severity of the pandemic in South Africa, the government may have been better advised not to change its policy so as to preserve vigilance against infections.

It “would've been better to be silent on the issue,” although the policy makes sense because only a 10th of those infected in South Africa are identified and only 5% of asymptomatic cases are picked up, he said. “Now that we accept that preventing infections is really not feasible, together with high level of protection against severe Covid induced by immunity from past infection or vaccines, ongoing emphasis of quarantine and isolation is of low public health relevance.”