Due to a high demand we are repeating this consultation and capacity building webinar on COVID-19, Monkey Pox and GBV.
Following the announcement by the Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, that sections 16A, 16B and 16C of the COVID-19 Regulations Relating to the Surveillance and the Control of Notifiable Medical Conditions – and which relate to the use of face masks, social gatherings and checks at South African borders – have been repealed.
As of mid-June, the critical indicators showed:
- Reported cases declined
- Hospitalisations declined
- The effective reproductive rate of the virus declined to under 0.7%
- The positivity rate declined, though the number of tests done is also low
- Reported deaths declined.
The national policy update makes way for an eased approach to wearing face masks and other related social behaviours. However, as the Health Minister cautioned, COVID-19 remains a danger to public health. It is likely that the virus is becoming endemic, but the pattern that the pandemic’s trajectory takes is hard to predict with certainty. Even if the COVID-19 disease reaches an endemic status, it does not mean that it poses no risk.
HIGHER HEALTH has been supporting the COVID-19 response across the Post School Education and Training System (PSET) since the beginning of the pandemic within South Africa through the establishment of guidelines, protocols, and capacity building, at all levels which have helped our sector towards comprehensive COVID-19 response programmes. Following the recent change in regulations to allow the opening of all sectors and travel and the ending of restrictions for mask-wearing and gatherings, HIGHER HEALTH would like to update and consult with the University Sector with these latest developments on COVID-19, future probabilities in the COVID pandemic as well as the implications for, and impact on, institutional COVID-19 response plans.
HIGHER HEALTH would also like to provide updates on the recently confirmed case of Monkey Pox in South Africa and our state of readiness as the PSET sector.
HIGHER HEALTH has developed a set of instruments, guidelines, and protocols that help turn the sectoral GBV Policy Framework into practical implementation to support institutions and management to put the necessary infrastructure towards a comprehensive response on cases of sexual and gender misconduct, rape, and sexual assaults. We feel it is important that we consult with our universities on a way forward towards these implementing guidelines and protocols as well as capacity workshops based on institutional needs.
The details are as follows:
Date: 6 July 2022
Time: 11:00 – 12:30
Link to register: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_GPo-bkaEQUmLHNL4X55KtQ
Additional Document: HIGHER HEALTH INVITE TO A WEBINAR – UNIVERSITY 6 JULY 2022
