South Africa has recorded less than 1 000 positive Covid-19 cases on Sunday, which indicates that the country is finally exiting the third wave of infections that made the winter a misery. A review was held on Sunday by President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Cabinet and the move to lockdown Level 1 is now understood to only be a formality.
Experts at Price Waterhouse Cooper said that Ramaphosa just needs to brief the relevant parties and set up a date and time to address the nation on the changes and it could happen in the next few days instead of a few weeks from now. The experts believe that the time is right to relax the restrictions as far as possible, ushering the country into Level 1 lockdown “by the start of October”.
However, multiple experts have warned that the Level 1 lockdown could be short-lived due to a possible fourth wave of Covid-19 infections after the elections which may cause superspreader events.
Health Minister, Joe Phaahla has reportedly expressed his concerns that South Africa could move from the current wave straight into another wave over the summer.
Wits University vaccinology professor, Shabir Madhi stated the campaigning period ahead of the 1 November local elections could cause numerous superspreader events. He said that campaigning will be “the riskiest period with regard to possible superspreader events, particularly if electioneering is allowed to take place in poorly ventilated indoor places. This is likely to be the case irrespective of the number of people who are allowed into these places. Increased community immunity and rollout of vaccines could lessen the blow of these superspreader events to a degree.”
Sources: BusinessTech, MSN
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