DESNÉ MASIE: Containing the virus must come first
Giving in to pressure to open the economy too early results in flare-ups and repeated lockdowns
As the UK buckled under the pressure of Covid-19 during April and May, I, like many others, looked at SA’s management of the pandemic, with its early and strict lockdown, and thought admiringly that the country would be spared the worst of it.
It is true that SA’s initial policy approach — enforcing one of the world’s most draconian lockdowns — slowed the spread of the virus and provided the health-care system with enough time to institute the protocols required. But last week the coronavirus started to hit SA hard, as it spread like wildfire through the dense and poverty-stricken townships, with daily infection rates now among the world’s highest...
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