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There is no one, correct approach to dealing with a global pandemic.

As we have learnt more about COVID-19, we have adjusted our response to curbing the spread based on the advice of experts knowledgeable in the field.

When we first went into hard lockdown in South Africa, for example, the majority supported the idea.

Two years down the line, it appears that our government is less keen on listening to those same experts.

Perhaps it should amend this Listen to the Experts page.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced earlier this week that masks are no longer required to be worn outdoors, along with a raft of other regulation changes, but evidence has emerged showing our government “ignored the counsel of experts appointed to advise it on managing the coronavirus pandemic”.

Business Day reports:

…a technical working group supporting the ministerial advisory committee [MAC] warned the government six weeks ago that its plan to replace the coronavirus regulations brought into effect in terms of the Disaster Management Act with regulations to the National Health Act risked legal challenge because they would potentially undermine constitutionally enshrined rights.

But the government, under growing pressure to end the national state of disaster — which was brought into effect two years ago to manage Covid-19 — has pressed ahead with its plan to use National Health Act regulations to deal with Covid-19 and any future health threats.

We spoke about this last week, with many fearing it’s trying to push through a gross overreach of government power.

Legal eagles have a laundry list of worries on that front.

Koleka Mlisana, the MAC co-chair, says they have become used to having their evidence-based scientific advice overlooked:

“They decide whether to take our advice, tweak it, or not take it. Difficult as it is, it is something we have learnt to live with.”

The MAC recommended that a number of measures are dropped.

These include temperature screening, hand sanitising, decontamination of premises, and ending PCR testing for international travellers.

Some of that was taken on board and announced during Tuesday’s Ramaphosa address, but other recommendations were ignored.

Experts who spoke with News24 following the regulation adjustments offered a mixed response.

Wits University’s Dr Vicky Baillie, a researcher at the South African Medical Research Council Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, said indoor mask-wearing is only beneficial if done properly:

“So trying to enforce mask wearing indoors and on public transport is likely of very little benefit. Similarly, enforcing the social distancing of one metre or more is incredibly difficult to enforce and likely of minimal benefit as we know a lot more of how the virus spreads, and it can spread a lot further than a metre in poorly ventilated areas.”

…”The self-isolation and quarantine are also pointless, unrealistic and untenable for the vast majority of South Africa, especially as we know the vast majority of infections are asymptomatic. For similar reasons, contact tracing should be done away with.”

Baillie also pointed to the discrepancy in size allowed for outdoor events versus funerals as illogical.

We are still battling a virus that has likely killed in excess of 300 000 South Africans so we can’t expect life to return to total normality.

All we can ask of those calling the shots is that they heed the advice of the experts they initially trusted.

A fifth wave, albeit (hopefully) minor, is likely to arise in the coming weeks. The last thing we need is panic from key decision-makers.

[sources:busday&news24]