Natasha Mazzone dragged for her vitamin D comment

Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Natasha Mazzone was trending again on Tuesday and not for a good reason.

In his address on Monday evening, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the reopening of beaches to the public as the country sees a decline in the number of daily Covid-19 cases.

The announcement has been welcomed many, including the DA, which had been advocating for the reopening of beaches.

“The fact is government has spent more effort and taxpayer money keeping people off the beach than procuring life-saving vaccines for them. Therefore, the DA welcomes the lifting of the nonsensical beach ban.” said party leader John Steenhuisen.

But Mazzone took it a step further and explained to her Twitter followers why she had been arguing for beach access.

So, what we know: Covid hates vitamin D (which your body gets naturally from sunshine); you should be in open spaces with lots of fresh air. Our government closed beaches and parks and we all crammed into malls and tight spaces….this restriction will not age well, not at all.

— Natasha Mazzone MP (@Natasha9Mazzone) February 2, 2021

https://twitter.com/wincadman/status/1356533815901122561

But her social media followers have not taken kindly to her tweet, asking her if vitamin D is only found on beaches.

Twitter user @waynesaisbright responded: “Your tweet won’t age well. Did the government really force us to go into the malls? Did they stop us from walking in our neighbourhoods? If I am outside but not in parks and on the beaches is the vitamin D restricted?”

“Covid cares not for vitamin D. It neither treats nor prevents Covid19. All we know is that those who are deficient have a more severe course, but that’s not the same thing,” said Alastair McAlpine.

According to Dr Dulcy Rakumakoe “there isn’t enough data to recommend use of vitamin D to prevent infection with the virus that causes Covid-19 or to treat Covid-19 , according to the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization.

“However, people with Vitamin D deficiency have been found by several studies to be more severely affected by Covid-19. Vitamin D deficiency is also more common in people who are older, obese, and have high blood pressure (hypertension). These factors also increase the risk of severe Covid-19 symptoms.”

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