[imagesource: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg]

South Africa, or at least most of it, is preparing for a drop to alert level 3 at the end of May.

What many people seem to be failing to draw from that announcement is that our government is keen on ending lockdown, but they favour doing so in a measured manner, with a gradual easing of restrictions, in order to minimise any immediate spike in coronavirus cases.

Still, the backlash against the extended lockdown continues to grow and now, worryingly, members of the ministerial advisory committee (MAC), which advises the government on its response to the pandemic, are speaking out.

In a damning Sunday Times report, MAC members came out in support of Dr Glenda Gray, who went on the record with News24 to say the lockdown has no basis in science and should be called off.

Gray has since walked back some of her comments.

Many of those who spoke with the Sunday Times did so on condition of anonymity:

They said a false impression had been created about the level of consultation with scientists on the lockdown. Others questioned who is advising President Cyril Ramaphosa, calling the official risk-adjusted strategy a “catastrophe”…

The MAC scientists the Sunday Times spoke to all agreed that the lockdown should be lifted. Their claims that they are being sidelined tend to undermine the government’s insistence that its lockdown rules, and its exit from the lockdown, are always based on sound scientific advice…

Several MAC members, who spoke to the Sunday Times on condition of anonymity because they are not allowed to speak to the media, said they had not been involved in lockdown decisions.

“Everyone, including the World Health Organisation [WHO], seems to think that there is a group of scientists out there advising government about extending the lockdown. That’s wrong. The MAC was never part of the big decisions on extending the lockdown,” said one member.

“The risk-adjusted strategy was never shared with us, it was presented to us the day before it was announced. We saw the models eight days ago. It’s a catastrophe. There’s panic in the MAC that decisions are being ascribed to us but we have never seen them, we were not party to them.”

MAC members added that they were not privy to discussions on the banning of cigarettes or alcohol, and that “no single scientist would have supported the cigarette ban”.

Others were less critical of the government, saying a phased-out approach with alert levels was prudent, but that some of the restrictions, such as limited exercise hours, should be done away with.

In response to the report, Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said it was “untrue that we don’t take the MAC seriously”, adding that MAC members were free to speak to the media if they so wished.

The MAC chair, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, also pushed back on claims that scientists were being sidelined, saying the 51-member body meets each week and “members have the opportunity to share their views” with Mkhize and other government officials.

Mkhize also spoke about two scenarios the government is considering and provided details on what will be on the table at the next MAC meeting this week.

You can read the full Sunday Times report here.

[source:sundaytimes]