Forcing Covid-19 patients into quarantine is illegal - high court

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AfriForum claimed the court ruling as a victory after challenging regulations signed by the co-operative governance and traditional affairs ministry under the Disaster Management Act on April 29.

According to the court ruling yesterday, to successfully self-isolate a patient needed access to a separate room and the ability to contact or get to a health facility if their condition worsened.

"These regulations, which AfriForum regards as ... irrational, were aimed at putting everyone who tests positive for Covid-19 under compulsory state quarantine," the lobby group said in a statement. The regulations suggested that everyone who tested positive for Covid-19, regardless of whether they showed symptoms, could be placed in a government isolation facility."These regulations would have given the state the power to force people into quarantine without their permission - even under circumstances where the person may be able to effectively self-isolate.

"The importance of civil rights organisations and institutions that oppose autocratic and irrational decisions by government has become increasingly clear during this lockdown. When the government abuses its power and tries to bully the public by violating people's rights, AfriForum will stand up against it - to the benefit of everyone in the country," said Monique Taute, head of campaigns at AfriForum.

Judge Norman Davis, in a separate ruling, issued a scathing assessment of the government's lockdown laws.

 

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