NPR: South Africa eases most COVID restrictions, citing high population immunity

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The only noticeable vestige of COVID-19 regulations here in South Africa are masks, which are still required in public spaces and on public transport.

In a statement, the government said it was taking these steps because the proportion of people with immunity to COVID-19 has "risen substantially, exceeding 60-80% in several sero-surveys." That means up to 80% of South Africans are either vaccinated or have recovered from a COVID-19 infection, so their blood samples show COVID-19 antibodies.

These are all concrete signs that perhaps South Africa has become the largest and most important African country to reach what NPR's Nurith Aizenman called COVID's holy grail: "the endemic stage of the pandemic, in which the coronavirus becomes a more predictable seasonal bug like the flu or common cold."

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