I spent some time at home recently after coming in contact with someone who later developed Covid-19 symptoms.
I was lucky to remain virus-free but the experience made me sober up fast as to the reality of the pandemic in my own backyard.
Last week we carried the stories of 20 locals who had died, two were husband and wife who passed away within days of one another.
During the first wave I can remember wondering what all the fuss was about.
Yes, Italy and New York were war zones and world statistics were frightening.
But no-one we knew had had the virus, let alone died.
Now we are experiencing what a true pandemic looks like and it is not pretty.
But is there possibly a ray of hope on the horizon in the form of Ivermectin?
ALSO READ: Demand for ‘miracle cure’ grows as Ivermectin black market prices soar on North Coast
As it is only registered in SA for use in animals the joke about veterinarians being next in line to take over health care might not be too far off from the truth (‘Have you taken your MOO-ti?’).
In many other countries Ivermectin is already an inexpensive, over-the-counter medicine and has been used for decades to treat livestock and people infested with parasitic worms and to treat tropical diseases such as scabies or head lice.
As we reveal this week, the anti-parasitic drug is being used by doctors on the North Coast and across the country to treat coronavirus patients. Illegally.
But that doesn’t seem to be stopping anyone.
When you are looking death in the face its hard to justify not trying every avenue to save a life.
Doctors believe so much in the drug that last week an appeal to President Cyril Ramaphosa to review the country’s stance on Ivermectin was raised in a petition endorsed by nearly 100 medical professionals.
Government’s hard handedness with anyone administering the drug is creating a flourishing black market.
Black market deals are most concerningly beginning to define this pandemic, at least in a South African context.
First it was cigarettes, then alcohol and now a deworming tablet.
The price has gone from about R150 to R2 000 for a packet of Ivermectin tablets!
Of course, as with anything, things are always more complicated than they first appear.
The South African Health Products Authority (Sahpra) cannot rush willy-nilly into approving drugs, because if people get hurt they will be the ones to blame.
It is a responsibility that should not be taken lightly. Clinical trials do take time though.
The good news is that Sahpra says more clinical data should be available by end January, and they are hopeful this will be enough to make a decision on.
But this might take longer than expected.
For example, in Peru and Bolivia, where the drug is easily available, researchers have reported the drug to be so widely in use due to corona-induced panic that they are struggling to find suitable candidates for the trials.
They can only use people who have not taken the drug already, as this screws with the test results.
Populist treatment is so huge researchers are saying it may be impossible to carry out phase 3 clinical trials, which require thousands of participants.
So where can we sign up for the clinical trials, Cyril?
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Visiting the post office on Saturday I was amused to discover that everyone in the office was doing the exact same thing: buying a fishing licence!
Everyone in the queue had a little chuckle about this when it was discovered.
They must be doing a roaring trade in licences this year.
I would love to know how many compared to pre-lockdown sales.
Even though we didn’t catch anything big enough to eat (all our little fish were released unharmed), the licence was worth every cent.
Just to dip my toes in the warm ocean and wallow in a rock pool or two was heavenly.
It was enough to make me forget lockdown for a few hours while enjoying our beautiful coastline. Divine.
