SAMA: Too early to relax lockdown regulations
The South African Medical Association (SAMA) believes the revision of some of the government’s lockdown regulations could hamper the fight against Covid-19.
The government announced revised regulations on Thursday, which relaxed travel restrictions for funerals and will also allow informal traders to do business under certain circumstances.
Taxis are also allowed to operate at 70% of capacity, something SAMA says will not contain the spread of the virus.
Added to this, says the organisation’s spokesperson Mvuyisi Mzukwa, is a lack of access to masks and other protective gear.
“We are concerned about the dilly-dallying that is being done by ministers when it comes to flattening this curve. This abrupt relaxation of these rules during the lockdown, to us it is a decision we think it was not taken considering other factors.
He adds: “The fact that you want people to wear masks in the taxi, it’s a problem, because we don’t have a supplier of those personal protective equipment. If you are telling people to wear mask and come into taxis in numbers, where do you think they will get those masks.”
Mzukwa believes the government acted too early when it decided to revise the lockdown rules.
“We think the Department of Health should lead and guide departments when it comes to this matter, because we don’t honestly understand why you would want to relax the lockdown rules. We are cautioning our country that it is too early to be making any of these relaxations.
“We need to give it time, we need to continue tracing contacts of positive patient and be very careful not to mess up this good thing done in our country.”