Skip to main content

Covid-19: Ramaphosa assures place in history

Western Cape premier Alan Winde [said] the province’s peak was likely to be “flatter, later and longer” than previously thought. A few weeks ago he said it was going to be July but it was “hard to predict".

Without the curve already flattening there's no way to predict when the peak will be because no one knows the level of community infections. It's like trying to judge the severity of a predicted hurricane by a few drops of rain now. Epidemiologists say they don't know much about the virus so why do idiot politicians pretend they have the answers.

Winde, who's the onomatopoeiac,, eponymous windbag, couldn't predict catching the virus himself but talks about predicting something at global level.

South Africa has the tenth highest Covid-19 infections in the world and highest cases per 100 000.

Infections have been doubling every 14 days. Now 300 000, I shall reach 500 000 by month end. This is not "scaremongering", as denialists like the ever irritating PANDA say, but fact. The reason for this is simple:

Ramaphosa and government cowardly caved in to the denialists' narrative of economy before lives and the lockdown will take more lives than Covid-19, couldn't make the hard, right decision and opened before the curve flattened and with WHO's other criteria not been met.

Initially they listened to the science but now are going with quack science. Under pressure from the already lawless industry, they're allowing 100% minibus taxi capacity for short distances and 70% for long distance. Experts criticised it as without scientific foundation and it doesn't make sense. Most travel is less than 20 minutes which according to Prof. Shabir Madhi,  vaccinologist and member of government's Covid-19 advisory committee (MAC), "constitutes a close exposure. In fact, the frequency of close exposures are going to be even more common by taking short trips than taking long trips".

The economic cost of one million-plus Covid-19 infections with overwhelmed hospitals, sick, dying and dead, whatever that percentage is, shall be enormous. But this is what denialists want while themselves hiding in isolation.

But whatever the metric - first, 8th or 24th - out of 195 countries in the world SA's number is alarming and unacceptable. It's criminal of the ANC government to have squandered the opportunity to do the right thing after initially listening to the science for which they received fulsome praise. Not even poor African countries with far higher population densities and worse healthcare is in the top 20 and doing so badly.

Ramaposter like always failed to take the tough decision to keep lockdown at level 4 and follow WHO criteria for reopening. He caved in to pandemic denialists like PANDA and right wing interests that said the economy before lives. Now they have their wish. When will they take this seriously - 500 000, million or will they still pretend it's exaggerated? Ramaposter = Mbeki = ANC in negligence, denialism and forever stealing defeat from a potential victory. Theft is all its forms, not running a country, is all they know.

Good job, Ramaposter, you shall exceed Mbeki's AIDS numbers. Your place in history is assured.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Western Cape Health has no jurisdiction over its doctors, senior official claims

On Wednesday June 1, Western Cape Health Department's (WCHD) officer Dr Saadiq Kariem was interviewed on CapeTalk about access to chronic medications for WCHD patients. He spoke of two options: collection at a department facility or delivery to their homes. He made it sound so easy. He didn't mention, though, that at many community health clinics aka day hospitals there's a wait, often hours, to simply collect medicines even when clinics already have patients' current scripts on file. I myself tried that - the first time and last time I'd been to a clinic for collection - but left after two hours without even being attended to. I buy my meds which fortunately are not the expensive kind. People cannot take off hours every month merely to collect meds but the poor have no alternative. I gather problems may be clinic specific. On a related matter, during an after hours phone call that weekend, Groote Schuur Hospital's chief operating officer Dr Belinda Jacobs told ...

Did Beth Engelbrecht jump or was she pushed from a burning platform?

Beth Engelbrecht was head of Western Cape Health Department (WCHD) from 2014 to 2020. Her predecessor Craig Househam ran the department from the late 90s. She was succeeded by Keith Cloete from 1 April 2020.  Engelbrecht's departure was a quiet affair. There was a press briefing January 2020 where Cloete was introduced as her successor (at the Western Cape Government's request, she remained to assist him with the COVID pandemic) but no articles in mainstream media about her tenure. The briefing concentrated on Cloete's and department's priorities.  The absence of press coverage was odd because she held a very important post. Compare that to the fulsome articles when Groote Schuur Hospital CEO Bhavna Patel retired in 2024 and about Eastern Cape health head Rolene Wagner's suspension and reinstatement. WCHD's Jonga Magazine (issue 24, 17 March 2020) ran a farewell message from Engelbrecht in which she wished Cloete well and thanked the department, MEC Nomafrench M...

Groote Schuur Hospital CEO Bhavna Patel retires, leaving controversy behind

Groote Schuur Hospital, Western Cape Health Department and NPA cover up death of patient Groote Schuur Hospital's CEO Dr Bhavna Patel retired after 13 years. A public health specialist, she's credited with improvements to the hospital. That may be true. But there's a cold, cynical side to Patel that the fulsome news reports (IOL, News24) do not speak about. Patel retired leaving controversy behind that to an extent insulates the hospital and Western Cape Health Department (WCHD) from the fallout. This is the kind of story, in general and what follows in particular, the media do not publish. In 2017 Patel, Trauma Centre head Andrew Nicol, senior medical officer Ahmed Al Sayari, registrar Marcelle Crowther, junior officer (27-year-old) Mikhail Botha, registrar Mohammed Mayet, and WCHD head Beth Engelbrecht were variously accused of assault, culpable homicide, fraud and violations of national and provincial health laws and policies for the death of a 91-year-old patient on Jul...