Covid: nobody is off the hook

WHILE Gauteng is evidently the epicentre of the third wave of Covid infections in South Africa, this does not mean, by any measure, that the rest of the country is off the hook and free to engage in the irresponsible behaviour which has, again, plunged us into a crisis.

So bad is the situation in Gauteng that army medical personnel have been deployed to assist government healthcare workers deal with the increase in coronavirus cases.

And the numbers are not trivial: Gauteng accounts for 60% (7 500 daily) of the total of new cases being detected (13 246 on Wednesday).

The army was only called in when the province, the country’s economic heartland, indicated it could not cope alone.

Where Gauteng has failed, the rest of the country must ensure compliance with the oft-quoted precautions required to keep infections at bay: wearing masks, washing hands, avoiding crowded and confined spaces, and limiting contact with people outside our circles.

While the drive to vaccinate senior citizens was launched with much ceremony, fewer than half of that group has registered for vaccines, much less been given the shot.

The Johnson and Johnson vaccine debacle has not helped matters, with less than two million shots being administered by Thursday, far too small a number to make a meaningful difference in the drive to prevent infection.

The cumulative effect of reckless behaviour and slow vaccination was the 100 deaths attributed to the virus recorded on Thursday.

While the country has a 90% recovery rate of those who contract Covid, we have still lost nearly 60 000 lives to the virus, and are likely to lose thousands more unless we come to our senses, and the government comes to the party and vigorously enforces the new restrictions announced this week.

It is pointless for the president to remind the nation that it is a criminal offence not to wear a mask in public when we see people ignoring the requirement daily without sanction.

Make an example of individuals and establishments which flout the law and perhaps we may have a chance of beating the virus.