We’re not ready for coronavirus

South Africans have no idea what’s coming with coronavirus.

If you have been in contact with someone who has the virus, even if you don’t have the virus yourself, you will have to “self-isolate” for about two weeks … but unless SA laws are changed, you cannot be forced into quarantine (see story on P2).

Large-scale “self-isolation”, the term the National Institue of Communicable Diseases (NICD) uses for quarantine measures, will mean those who have been in contact with coronavirus patients, will not be allowed to return to work (a sick note will be provided) for the 14 days, while they are being monitored.

This self-isolation is the biggest problem facing the country, rather than the number of actual cases or even deaths – because tens of thousands of people might not be able to go to work, causing the economy to grind to a halt.

According to the NICD’s Prof Cheryl Cohen, a person diagnosed with the virus “will be isolated and all measures taken to prevent onward transmission as per recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO)”.

“They will be given appropriate treatment. We will begin active follow-ups of all the close contacts of the case. Each of these people will be identified and will self-isolate at home,” said Cohen.

“All contacts will be monitored daily for the presence of any symptoms and if they become ill, they will immediately be tested for Sars-CoV-2. If any contact is confirmed to be infected they will be managed as a case. After 14 days, if contacts are well, they can return to normal activities.”

Cohen said there were “designated hospitals” for the management of Covid-19 cases in all provinces and additional hospitals are available with appropriate infrastructure to manage the cases.

However, the SA Medical Association (Sama) yesterday questioned government’s reported decision to evacuate South Africans from Wuhan in China, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.

Departments directly involved in the matter – the health department and international relations and cooperation department – has remained mum in the wake of reports detailing advanced preparations and budgets for evacuation.

Sama chair Dr Angelique Coetzee said she could not understand why South Africa would evacuate its citizens from China when an economic superpower, the United States, considered to have the best expertise and facilities, was not allowing its citizens back from China.

“If the US says no, how are we allowing them back?

“If you want people back, show us how many, where you are planning to quarantine them for 14 days, who is going to be looking after them.

“It is not easy to quarantine and it has to be strict. You cannot have facilities scattered all over the country because you will spread the virus,” she said.

Coetzee said the coronavirus – or Covid-19 – was also not easily identified, citing an incident in Australia where a person was cleared, but tested positive two days later and had possibly passed on the virus.

The department of health has confirmed plans to repatriate 200 South Africans from Wuhan, but said President Cyril Ramaphosa still has to sign off on the plan. If the people return to SA, they will be quarantined as per WHO guidelines and be treated by special medical personnel.

Coetzee shared a statement by Dr KK Aggarwal, president of the Heart Care Foundation of India and former president of the Indian Medical Association, in which he states that “at a certain point, it becomes less about trying to stop an outbreak from entering a country and more about doing what we can to mitigate the damage it causes – goals that tend to require different strategies”.

Move swiftly – WHO

World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus yesterday urged affected countries to “move swiftly” to contain the coronavirus.

• “We’re at a decisive point,” Tedros said in Geneva. Pointing to a decline in new cases in China, Tedros said: “It’s what’s happening in the rest of the world that’s now our greatest concern.
• “If you act aggressively now, you can contain this virus, you can prevent people getting sick, you can save lives.”
• Tedros emphasised that all countries should ensure that their health systems were prepared for an outbreak.
• “The outbreak can go in any direction based on how we handle it,” he said. – AFP

– siphom@citizen.co.za

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