Reintroduced curfew will help to reduce spread of virus, say health experts

Health experts yesterday commended President Cyril Ramaphosa on the additional measures taken by government to reduce the pressure on hospitals and its health workers by reintroducing the night-time curfew – from 9pm to 4am – saying it would reduce the movement of people and decrease the risk of infections.

Ramaphosa said the curfew required everyone to remain at home unless they needed medical assistance or to travel to or from work. The curfew became effective yesterday at 9pm.

“We are taking these measures fully aware that they impose unwelcome restrictions on people’s lives. They are, however, necessary to see us through the peak of the disease. As an additional measure to reduce the pressure on hospitals … everyone will be required to remain at home,” Ramaphosa said.

The South Africa Medical Association’s (Sama) Dr Akhtar Hussain said the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital had received more than 1,000 trauma cases in a month due to the misuse of alcohol and the social gatherings people were attending, ignoring the Covid-19 restrictions.

He said the reintroduction and reimposition of the ban on alcohol would assist health workers in focusing their attention on Covid-19 patients and those who suffer from other chronic diseases.

“Covid-19 patients need the most attention right now and the curfew will help with unnecessary movement as the numbers of infections are increasing rapidly in the country. We have also neglected patients who suffer from HIV, TB, and diabetes because we have had our hands full with trauma patients,” Hussain said.

“Most people are not following social distance. There is overcrowding everywhere, which is not good. People should not go to a place where there are more than 20 people, nor should they spend longer than 30 minutes in a public space. The curfew will set strict measures and force people to do what they need to do in a shorter time period.”

Hussain said individually, people had a responsibility to educate themselves of the basic principles to protect themselves from Covid-19, which required practical exercise such as staying at home, washing hands regularly and maintaining social distancing.

Public health specialist Dr Lehlohonolo Majoke said the curfew was needed because it would discourage people from hosting late-night social gatherings, as many of them would only make their way home at 3am, risking their lives by driving drunk and being reckless.

She said: “The average employer needs to commute to and from work, taking them about two to four hours to travel using public transport. The curfew will force them to head straight home instead of attending a social gathering. It is a well-thought-out decision because there would be less people moving around, which would assist with the fighting the spread of the virus.”