All it takes is one voicenote and the panic begins…

Funny how nobody seems to know where these messages originate from, but once they’ve been blindly forwarded on 10 times, that no longer matters.

To the liquor store, at once – rather be safe than sorry, seems to the general refrain, especially when you consider the very tangible effect the sale of liquor is having on the number of trauma cases at hospitals across the country.

Then there’s the government’s about-turn on the sale of tobacco products, so we can be excused for being wary.

However, if you believe the noises coming out of the Union Buildings, as reported in the Sunday Times, we can all relax on the booze front:

Minister in the presidency Jackson Mthembu told the Sunday Times that the cabinet’s decision to relax lockdown rules, including lifting the ban on alcohol sales, is “not up for reviewal”.

Despite Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane, Gauteng premier David Makhura and police minister Bheki Cele saying they support the alcohol ban’s reinstatement, Mthembu said the cabinet had not discussed reversing the relaxation of regulations.

“The decision of cabinet stands. It is not up for reviewal … we have not discussed the reviewal of those measures. Not at all. All we have said is let’s have discussions with the experts and see how they look at measures that we have taken so that we are advised,” said Mthembu.

It makes the origins of those voicenotes and panicked WhatsApp messages last week all the more intriguing, and I wouldn’t be too surprised if someone from within the alcohol industry set the wheels in motion to spike sales.

What we do know for sure is that tomorrow (Tuesday, June 16), the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) will receive an assessment report from the ministerial advisory council (MAC).

The following day, cabinet will then meet, and decisions regarding lockdown regulations will be taken. Officials are expected to look at how the lifting of the alcohol ban has impacted hospitals, the ongoing tobacco sales ban, and opening up further sectors of the economy.

I guess that means you’re likely to receive forwarded messages on or around Wednesday. As always, ask questions before forwarding them on.

There will also be talk about the country’s hotspots, and whether or not more stringent measures are needed in certain areas.

Whilst knowledge of where those conversations will lead is limited, we do know that MAC member and vaccinology professor Shabir Madhi is worried about what’s to come.

He has said the country is “nowhere near ready” for the coming spike:

“The doubling times of infections is shrinking. It was 14 days under hard lockdown, it’s now 12 days. The situation in the Western and Eastern Cape, which are still in relatively early stages of the outbreak, will get worse. Cape Town and Nelson Mandela Bay will be three times worse off compared to where they are now within weeks. It’s the same for the other metros.”

Madhi also pointed to the testing backlog as a massive hindrance to trying to curb the spread of the infection, something other members of the MAC have also raised.

Over the weekend, News24 reported that Professor Francois Venter, head of the Ezintsha health unit at the University of the Witwatersrand and a senior member of the MAC, says the health department’s testing strategy needs an urgent rethink.

…Venter and others have for weeks argued that, due to severe resource constraints, leading to low turnaround times from sample collection to results, tests should be reserved for hospitalised patients and healthcare workers.

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), the average turnaround time for tests is now around nine days, up from two days in April.

“The turnaround times (for tests) remain a disaster. We (scientists) have told them repeatedly to throw away the medical waste and prioritise. We’ve been saying this for weeks,” Venter told News24 on Friday.

Health Minister Dr. Zweli Mkhize has stated that the department is already adopting a more focused testing strategy, but Venter says that is not enough to ease the backlog.

You can read that report in full here.

News24 does report that the Premiers of the Western Cape, Gauteng, and Eastern Cape have hinted at the possibility of reinstating the alcohol sales ban, so it is worth keeping an eye on developments.

At this stage, however, there is no reason to rush out to the store and panic buy booze, especially when you consider that some companies offer same-day delivery.

[source:sundaytimes&news24]