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As we enter day 88 of our national lockdown, we’re also nearing ‘advanced alert level 3’, which will see more sectors of the economy opening up.

There seems to be, amongst the general public at least, the feeling that life must now return to normal, and we’re all COVID-fatigued.

It’s important to remember that the reduction in alert levels, and the easing of certain restrictions, is not because the risk is under control, but rather because a choice had to be made between different evils. Our economic and political systems cannot support the health measures required to fully control the spread of the virus, and we have made a trade-off.

You might not be seeing the results of that trade-off, but those who work in the healthcare sector are, and they’re sounding the alarm bells.

News24 reports:

“The numbers have been increasing daily – we don’t have enough space” said a casualty nurse at Livingstone Hospital, one of the three Covid-designated facilities in Eastern Cape.

She claimed the hospital was suffering a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), back-to-back shifts and chaotic management.

“Last time I went on duty I got eight gloves,” she told AFP. “How do I work with eight pairs of gloves for a 12-hour shift?”

…”It’s hard to say whether we will be able to handle it,” said the unnamed doctor, who voiced particular concern about the lack of ventilators and coronavirus training.

“It is already a crippled system so it’s difficult… to prepare for a pandemic.”

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has said that this week may see the province hit our peak, although that remains difficult to predict.

If you want to get an idea of the rolling seven-day confirmed cases count for various provinces, Andrew Fraser’s graphic below does a great job of illustrating the surge:

I spent waaay too much time on this. pic.twitter.com/L2BM8BOLBF

— Andrew Fraser (@Arfness) June 19, 2020

Watch out, Gauteng.

Speaking from a small hospital outside of Cape Town, one doctor said patients have been forced to spend the night on plastic chairs, as there are no beds available:

“It’s going to get very very tough,” she feared. “We only have so many oxygen ports and having to decide who gets them: that’s what terrifies me.”

Nurses in Western Cape also fretted about over-stretched facilities and being unduly exposed to the virus.

“There is no way we can put patients 1.5 metres away from each other,” said a nurse at Tygerberg hospital.

“We feel very unsafe,” she added.

That fear is real, and echoed by healthcare professionals in every province that is experiencing a surge in cases – more on that here.

Where does the loathing come in, then? Well, imagine having to weigh up who gets to live and who gets to die, along with the worry that you’re constantly being exposed to a virus that has now claimed 1 930 lives in South Africa, and more than 470 000 worldwide, and watching members of the general public refuse to do something as simple as wear a face mask.

Face masks work – case closed.

I would be raging, with TimesLIVE reporting that some medics who are under fire “have expressed their desire to make it a criminal offence for any person to be caught in public without a mask”:

Dr Kerrin Begg, who is one of SA’s top public health experts, last week took to social media to call out those who are refusing to wear masks during a viral pandemic she and colleagues are witnessing first hand…

“My colleagues and I are battling with the effects of the pandemic in a very real and tangible manner on a daily basis,” said Begg, adding that her colleagues were working in “what feels like a war zone”.

The day before her post, she had assisted her son’s schoolmate whose father had just died of Covid-19.

Meanwhile, some South Africans act as though their freedoms are being taken away, fighting security guards who request they wear a face mask.

There have been at least two incidents caught on camera this month alone – see here and here.

Prof Hlonipha Mokoena, from the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research, broke down the resistance to wearing a mask as follows:

She said it was possible “some people are choosing to ignore what we know about the virus in favour of conspiracy theories or high-minded self-regard” while others may be shunning masks because “the real dangers of the disease have not yet been felt and so many South Africans are complacent”…

In the US, President Donald Trump recently accused a journalist of being “politically correct” for wearing a mask at a press conference, and social media has been flooded with video clips of non-masked Americans spitting on those who call them out for it.

She said choosing to ignore state entities like the Center for Disease Control made “people feel smart and that they are not ‘drinking the Kool-Aid’.”

Congrats on not drinking the Kool-Aid, whilst healthcare professionals risk their lives daily and beg that we wear face masks in public.

If I was on the front lines of fighting this fight, and I came across citizens who steadfastly refused to cover their faces, ‘loathing’ would be too kind a word.

Whatever your views on the lockdown, or our government’s handling of the situation, or whether or not you think it’s ‘just the flu’ (it’s not), at least wear a face mask for the sake of the hospital workers currently under siege, and fearing for their safety.

[sources:news24&timeslive]