GCIS Director General Phumla Williams said it was unfortunate that the very same people who went beyond the call of duty to save lives were harmed and stolen from.
Hospersa has raised concerns about Health Minister Joe Phaahla’s announcement this week that the department’s budget was expected to decrease by 2% over the next two financial years and the impact thereof on nursing staff.
During his 2022/2023 budget vote on Tuesday, the minister revealed his concerns that the budget would be dropping by close to 2% a year.
However, in a statement, the department said pupils will not be required to wear masks outdoors in playgrounds and sports fields.
Government has announced a three-month extension to the health regulations meant to curb the spread of COVID-19 and the public consultation period.
Moments before the measures announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa lapsed at mignight, the department announced it had gazetted the limited regulations with effect from Thursday.
Late last week, Western Cape High Court Judge Hayley Slingers dismissed the challenge, which focused on the 30-day public comment period that was affected.
The union members have gathered outside the departments of health and treasury in Tshwane to hand over a memorandum of demands.
The Department of Health is urging parents to take their children to be vaccinated as chief director for child health programme, Dr Lesley Bamford, states that there needs to be a 95% full vaccination rate to be confident that there will be no outbreak or rise in cases.
The Health Department said that 30,186 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the country in the past 24 hours.
Experts previously warned that the fifth wave of the coronavirus could grip the country as early as next month.
According to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), most of these cases were picked up in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.
Health Minister Joe Phaahla said that the regulations were essential in preparing the country from any future outbreak and managing the current pandemic when the state of disaster lifted.
Health regulations have been published for public comment, giving people until 16 April to have their say on the matter.
The Department of Health has warned that the pandemic is not over and citizens should still abide by the non-pharmaceutical transitional measures that remain in place such as mask-wearing in indoor public spaces.
A total of 92,370 Pfizer vials will reach their expiration date on the last day of this month and will be disposed of, in line with industry standards.
Earlier this month, Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla reported that about 100,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine were at risk of being destroyed by the end of the month due to the slow uptake by citizens.
Government is calling for public consultation on alternative legislation for managing the pandemic after it extended the state of disaster for another month.
