SA may be on the back foot with coronavirus

With yesterday’s confirmation that the coronavirus number is up to 16, it still seems – in terms of numbers at least – that this particular health problem is minor.

That is especially so when we put it against the fact that 12 people died in a horrific taxi crash yesterday and thousands more around the country died from various other causes.

That may be comforting – and indeed, many people are adopting that “devil-may-care” attitude – but it is short-sighted and potentially dangerous.

The coronavirus is, obviously, still in its infancy in South Africa and nowhere near where it was in China, South Korea and Italy, the biggest flashpoints globally. In China and South Korea, infection increase rates are already declining, in part because of swift reaction from the authorities in terms of testing suspected patients and in implementing quarantines.

In Italy, matters have been almost chaotic in the north of the country, where reports say emergency wards are being overwhelmed by virus sufferers battling double pneumonia, the worst result of infection. Critics of the Italian government say it was too slow in implementing preventative measures.

Primary among these measures is what the experts call “social distancing”, where people avoid each other as much as possible – where mass gatherings are banned – in the hope of breaking the chain of infection.

So, currently, in many countries, you will see marches, indoor gatherings and sports events being postponed or cancelled and, where people are forced to come together, they keep a distance of at least one metre between each other.

None of these actions have yet been taken in South Africa and, without being unduly alarmist, we wonder if, perhaps, we’re not already too late?

Such restrictions are immensely difficult and uncomfortable and costly for the economy. But the alternative might be too ghastly to contemplate.

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