NATIONAL NEWS - South Africa has been in lockdown – at one level or another – for the past 552 days. However, there is hope at the end of the tunnel: it may be over soon.
In fact, vaccinology professor the University of the Witwatersrand, Shabir Madhi, says lockdown levels are no longer necessary. No more lockdown?
Limit indoor gatherings
Madhi says restrictions are “probably not needed anymore”, especially not the type of protocols government imposed on us in the past.
The only beneficial restriction to keep, he says, would be to limit the number of people at an indoor gathering, “especially indoor gatherings in poorly ventilated spaces”.
Madhi says: “All of the data indicates […] the level of restrictions haven’t done much when it comes to the actual number of people who have been infected.”
“I think outdoor gatherings […] are probably safe as across almost all provinces we are on a downward coronavirus decline”, Madhi said on 702 earlier this week.
Lockdown doesn’t work in Africa
Back in July, University of Johannesburg’s Professor Nicholas Ngepah said in countries with high levels of poverty, lockdown measures should only be implemented once “other non-medical measures” have been exhausted.
He said socio-economic conditions must be factored in, as the majority of people in Africa do not have access to nutrition, economic opportunities or infrastructure to survive a lockdown.
“People get locked down by strict regulations. It becomes almost impossible for a poor person to keep [to] the rules of the lockdown.”
That said, there was one upside to keeping lockdown in place in South Africa. Madhi said it alleviated some pressure on the healthcare system.
