Covid-19 secrecy must end

There is an alarming rate of Covid-19 infections in South Africa.

What started out as a gripping fear, a strangle on the economy and a restriction of movement has now been reduced to a relaxed response from the public at large.

And as the economy slowly reopens so, too, does the required adherence of the public relax.

This has resulted in infections soaring, hospitals filling and the death tally rocketing at an alarming rate. The nature of the virus beast is one we cannot comprehend, but our desire to return to normality grows by the day.

The aged are asked to stay home for their safety, but children are slowly returning to school, curfews have been eased and the vast majority of the population has returned to work.

It has become a case of the survival of the fittest, a time when discipline and self-control is what will determine one’s ability to stay alive.

But when do we begin to seriously converse on the rising numbers of infections? Is that not essential in risk assessment?

Earlier in the week, I read a Facebook post written by a nurse. She said healthcare workers are the largest contributors to these rising numbers.

As she explained it, in public facilities, many nurses are infected and are obligated to continue to work – even though they are in
contact with on average of 100 patients daily.

This is a legitimate concern.

While the health of every member of the population remains the personal responsibility of those who are capable – health officials
must remove the cloud of secrecy, they must open the channels of communication.

We need to be open and free from the secrecy that fills the halls of power. That is non-negotiable.

The inability to openly communicate also applies to the schooling environment. The groundwork has been done and the foundations are there.

We have been educated on masks and sanitisers, now let’s go deeper and zoom in on the intricacies of the disease – we cannot treat what we do not understand, nor can we heal from what we have not treated.

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