Social distancing must be enforced right now

Soon after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced certain restrictions following the coronavirus outbreak, jokes started about the restrictions around the sale of liquor.

“This coronavirus, does it only attack at night since they’re saying liquor outlets must close before dark?” quips one obviously drunk shebeen patron on a voice note on social media.

South Africans’ biggest take-home message from the president’s announcements was simply that they cannot drink alcohol as and when they want, and this was made worse by Minister of Police Bheki Cele emphasising that “after the stipulated hours one can only drink in his father’s house”. The focus shifted from the purpose of the restrictions to their severity.

There is nothing wrong with using a bit of humour to ease the tension around a very stressful situation. But there is a very poor understanding on the part of the public (and even some ministers) on what these national disaster conditions are meant to achieve.

The liquor restrictions are being taken in isolation from the guidelines on social distancing. Social gatherings like parties and weddings are still going ahead and some church organisations still went ahead with services, only restricting their numbers to under the stipulated 100 people per service – as if the virus knows to leave alone those 100.

The thing about viruses is that they do not follow human laws and reasoning. They follow their own laws of multiplication. Virologists and epidemiologists come up with simple rules to stem the tide of infections based on the pattern of the spread of the infections.

They cannot ensure that the public understand the reasons for the restrictions. That’s what governments are meant to do: educate and enforce.

Because the public is not responding to the restrictions because they do not understand what “flattening the curve” means, harsher and more severe restrictions may be necessary.

The Chinese have demonstrated to the world what enforced social distancing can achieve in a short space of time. Wuhan moved from being the epicentre of infections because of enforced social distancing.

The government started off really well, being proactive in stopping the spread of the virus – but they seem to have fallen into that very South African trap: enacting beautiful laws without a plan to enforce them.

The dangers of coming up with restrictions and failing to enforce them is that it quickly teaches the public that the looming danger is not all too real.

That lackadaisical approach to enforcing the first raft of restrictions announced by the president may turn out to be the difference between a disastrous deadly effect of the pandemic and a controlled one in South Africa. It could very well mean the difference between Wuhan in China and Lombardi in Italy where the numbers of those dying and those recovering are just about the same.

Lockdown, shutdown, state of emergency or national disaster, the time to do the right thing is now. Social distancing enforced through the use of legal state laws and organs like the army is the way to go. The longer the delay, the longer it will take to flatten the curve.

Sydney Majoko.

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