‘Don’t let guard down,’ say experts amid Covid-19 fifth wave concerns

Although many health experts have welcomed the end of the national State of Disaster, some medical experts have questioned government’s decision to declare it was time for individuals to take responsibility and keep safe.

According to Professor Mosa Moshabela of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, while it was not too soon to end the State of Disaster, he was worried people would not have lasting behavioural changes to try and limit the spread of the coronavirus which would severely affect those who were responsible.

He said it was not the same as terminating the commitment to manage the pandemic, so the pandemic has not ended.

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“For the most part, the responsibility to manage the pandemic has shifted from government to the [department] of health and generally from government to society to South Africans,” he said.

“So the issue of personal responsibility and the so-called ‘it’s in your hands’ becomes even more important now as we move forward in preparation for the fifth wave and possibly a new variant.”

Moshabela said because generally people knew what they were supposed to do, they had the tools and the mechanism to control the pandemic, they did not necessarily need extraordinary laws.

Epidemiologist Dr Jo Barnes agreed and said there was almost certainly going to be another wave of infections and the draft regulations which were made public for comment and many of them were contradictory or illogical remained a very great worry.

“We are moving into winter when people are gathered together in homes and other buildings much closer than during the hot months of summer,” she said.

“So the risk of transmission is increased during winter. The Omicron variant is also highly transmissible, so that is another factor indicating the high likelihood of another wave.”

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She said there was also the unknown risk of a new variant, so people must keep it in mind when planning for the near future as well.

“The announcements of the president were long anticipated, but there are worrisome aspects that were not strongly emphasised or highlighted during his speech.”

Barnes added the regulations which were not feasible or that many people could not possible meet, eroded the people’s trust about the general management displayed by government.

“If that same government urges people to vaccinate, then that message is distrusted too. That’s not a helpful situation,” she said.

However, vaccinologist Prof Shabir Madhi, who has previously called for the end of the state of disaster, said the decision was definitely a step in the right direction and overdue.

“We’ve been in a recovery phase of the pandemic since after omicron, where we saw frantic decoupling of infections and severe disease,” he said.

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“Also, the regulations did little in preventing infections in SA, considering 70% were infected at least once before omicron, and now sits at 85%.”

Meanwhile, Professor Glenda Davison, head of the biomedical sciences department at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology also welcomed the decision.

She said SA had entered a stage where the virus was still present but had become endemic.

“While we still need to be cautious, we don’t need the strict lockdown.

“But I am happy to see that certain restrictions still remain such as mask wearing indoors… It is time to adapt and learn to live with this virus. I still believe once we reach 80% vaccination rate we could relax even more,” she said.