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SA’s unique Covid-19 trajectory, and how the government is attacking the outbreak
The coming week is “critical” for the government’s Covid-19 fight, because the number of positive cases that are found during intensive testing will guide the government’s next move.
The government is looking at “stopping the small flames” to avoid having a large, uncontrollable fire in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the country, at least in the initial phases of the outbreak, is bucking international outbreak trends.
Interventions could include encouraging the elderly into a self-isolation until as late as September, to ensure those vulnerable stay away from the virus.
The lockdown could be relaxed or continued to be enforced depending on how the disease is spreading in the coming weeks, and the government is especially looking at how many people are being infected by those already carrying the virus.
Professor Salim Abdool Karim, an epidemiologist and infectious diseases specialist who is working as an advisor for the government, delivered a presentation about the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
In a wide-ranging and detailed presentation, Karim said the coronavirus grows very rapidly, and for which patients experience symptoms at a rapid rate. He said the lockdown being introduced – on 26 March – was shown to slow down the number of infections.
The delay through lockdown was important to flatten the curve #COVID19 #LockdownSA #CoronavirusUpdate pic.twitter.com/CqpR51h0Au
— Department of Health (@HealthZA) April 13, 2020
