The South African government has been forbidden by its High Court to force patients who would have tested positive for the novel coronavirus into state quarantine centres. This comes after the High Court earlier on today declared that the lockdown restrictions imposed by the government were illegal and unconstitutional.
The court said there was no need to force patients who tested positive for coronavirus into state quarantine centres if they are able to self-isolate.
The case which is the second case in two days rendering restrictions announced by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamimi-Zuma to be illegal was filed by AfriForum against Dlamini-Zuma. The submissions mentioned regulations 6 and 7 of the regulations printed by Dlamini-Zuma on April 29, allowing Government to force patients who would have tested positive for coronavirus into a state quarantine centre.
The High Court has ordered that a person is “only required to be quarantined or isolated at a state facility, or other designated quarantine site, when that person is unable to self-isolate, or refuses to do so, or violates the self-quarantine or self-isolation rules.
Furthermore, and according to the judgement, in order to effectively self-isolate or self-quarantine, a person needs access to a detached room where that person should self-isolate. The court said no one was allowed to enter into the room designed for self-isolation and the person in isolation must go to the hospital if his or condition deteriorates.
Ernst Roets from AfriForum said the ruling was a big win which ensures justice and freedom to the people.
The South African Government’s strength to force people into state isolation centres has received a lot of negative response when two doctors from Limpopo were forced to leave their houses where they were self-isolating to be quarantined in the state quarantine centres after testing positive for coronavirus in April.