Is the South African government manipulating Covid-19 data to justify fully reopening the economy? Cases are apparently slowing. But since the start of the pandemic government and experts have been predicting the peak anytime from July to September. The alleged slowing of infections comes at the time government is about to relax* the lockdown to level 2. At the same time there are reports of more focused testing, i.e. reduced community-wide testing. If that's the case, of course reported infections - not real infections in the community which could be 10 times the official number - will appear to have slowed. When government moved to level 3 they also announced the peak had been reached. It hadn't. There's nothing about the country's precarious and collapsing health system and socio-economic position - hell, it can't even keep the lights on, struggling with 150 year-old techonology, coal-powered energy - that indicates the pandemic will just go away by itself. T...
Blog on medical and health matters with a focus on the Western Cape's public health system.