The new Covid surge is cause for concern. President Cyril Ramaphosa must address the nation without delay.
Ending the pandemic requires two things: mitigation and vaccination. As infections have soared, these things have become increasingly urgent.
A huge part of the SA population has stopped wearing masks in public. Covid fatigue is visible everywhere.
We need to go into a harder lockdown as the nation and its strained and drained medical teams fight an uphill battle to contain a new wave. The winter flu season is upon us as well. The most troubling aspect of this surge is that we are unsure of the speed of infection and lethality of the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants.
We will pay an astronomical price in human lives if we don’t adhere to social distancing rules. Defiance in the face of a new wave will lead to upheaval.
The carnage in human and economic terms that will follow will reshape our nation.
Farouk Araie
Benoni