Unlock the economy, not the virus

In yesterday’s edition, Muzi Mahlambi, the KwaZulu-Natal education spokesperson, gave a heartwrenching account of his 23 days in hospital, 18 of them in ICU fighting for his life against Covid-19.

In that time, he witnessed six people die. “It was so traumatic because you know when doctors and nurses rally around one bed and run around with a lot of machines that there is serious trouble.

“The next thing the curtains are drawn. The team wearing white comes with a white mobile coffin, they quickly close your curtains not to see but most of the time they were late to do so,” Mahlambi said.

He was one of the lucky ones to survive a virus that has so far killed at least 10,000 people since it arrived on our shores this year.

Indications as early as Sunday suggest that the government is considering to further re-open the economy and to ease lockdown restrictions.

Yesterday, our sister publication TimesLive reported that a forum of directors-general of national departments met on Sunday and resolved to recommend that all sectors of the economy be opened except for crowded places.

The recommendations follow immense lobbying and public pressure from sectors such as tobacco and alcohol producers whose economic value chain has suffered immeasurably because of the restrictions on sales.

As before, the government has to walk the tight rope, balancing the economic impact of current restrictions against the practical risks that come with lifting bans.

It must also be careful not to further corrode public consensus to comply by punitively prolonging restrictions on social behaviour.

With these burdens in mind, President Cyril Ramaphosa will likely address the nation soon to give direction on the next phase of our fight against the virus.

Whatever he announces, as citizens, our duty remains clear: It is foremost to protect ourselves and those around us by adhering strictly to personal safety protocols as much as possible regardless of the extent of the liberties granted back to us.

While further opening up the economy may indeed be a necessary step to quell more economic devastation, it does not change that Covid-19, which continues to live among us, is one of the most brutal killers of our time.