This is no time for ‘what ifs’, all of us have to comply

In 1918 when the flu pandemic hit the world towards the end of World War I, up to 50 million people died because the world was not prepared for such an outbreak.

The worst-hit city in the US was Kansas City, recording deaths of up to 1,200 per 100,000 of the population compared to the more densely populated New York City, which recorded 590 deaths per 100,000 of the population. Why was Kansas City so heavily hit despite being several sizes smaller?

The city administration chose to continue with business as usual. It even held a street parade on Armistice Day to celebrate the end of the war where thousands and thousands of people mixed on the streets, unwittingly spreading the deadly virus.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced national disaster conditions on Sunday to curb the spread of the deadly Covid-19 virus. This means it cannot be business as usual. But as Italian political theorist Antonio Gramsci once noted: “History teaches, but it has no pupils.”

The disaster of Kansas City risks being repeated on a larger scale if reactions to the announced national disaster conditions are anything to go by. “What must happen to church gatherings? Will the ZCC (Zion Christian Church) Easter pilgrimage be allowed to happen? What about the Shembe Church’s Easter celebrations? Will celebrations held in open spaces like a stadium be allowed?”

The president could not declare specific events unlawful lest he be accused of targeting certain churches or organisations, but it suffices to say “gatherings of more than 100” individuals are prohibited. It follows that places of worship, sports activities and music concerts are included in the prohibited activities.

This is no time for “what ifs”. Decisive action needs to be implemented without leaving room for error. The world now has the benefit of hindsight from the 1918 and 2009 H1N1 flu pandemics. Continuing with business as usual is counterproductive when dealing with such an easily transmittable virus.

Respect for religious activities cannot trump the respect for life. It should not even be open for discussion what religious groups are going to do as it is not only their members they are putting at risk by continuing with large gatherings, it’s the population at large. The president’s announcement is to protect all those at risk, and that means cancelling all big crowd activities.

There is no way to quantify the amount of economic damage Covid-19 is going to visit on fragile economies, and the danger is to want to err on the side of caution when it comes to protecting the economy, as the Kansas City administration tried to do 100 years ago. It tried to protect the economy more than lives. When other cities imposed strong measures to limit social contact Kansas City did not want to limit businesses and stayed open. With deadly consequences.

Hopefully, the committee introduced and chaired by the president will fine-tune the measures he has announced. People must not mistake the “don’t panic” warning to mean they can be relaxed about taking precautions. Measures must be enforced until the rate of infections is under control.

As noted in Kansas City, posthumous apologies do not work: “dead people cannot accept apologies.”

Sydney Majoko.

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