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On March 5, 2020, South Africa had its first confirmed case of COVID-19.

Feels like a lifetime ago, hey?

Not too long after, we entered a ‘three-week lockdown’ which stretched just a touch as we struggled to curb the spread of the virus.

Now, with the fourth wave having come and gone and our national state of disaster expiring on March 15, there’s talk of various regulations being scrapped.

Professor Salim Abdool Karim, the former co-chairperson of the COVID-19 Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC), has been vocal in calling for certain public health measures to be dropped.

The same can be said for Professor Shabir Madhi, who is advocating for the end of lockdown restrictions, saying this week that they are “completely obsolete, and are in fact now doing more damage”.

Prof Karim said in a recent podcast interview that outdoor mask wearing is likely on the chopping block, which would be a welcome respite.

News24 spoke with two public health experts – Professor Alex Welte from the SA Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis and public health professor Nisha Naicker of the University of Johannesburg’s department of environmental health – about other possible changes and what measures should remain in place:

[Welte said] wearing of masks in closed spaces, such as where people who do not live together gather, should remain as it “undoubtedly” reduced the risk of transmission.

“Whether we can do it sufficiently consistently, without being told to, I doubt. [And] it doesn’t seem like a great idea to keep nagging and compelling people.”

Welte said he saw little value in the use of sanitiser and temperature taking at the entrance to establishments.

Sanitiser manufactures wincing at that one.

As an aide, I have never received a call from a restaurant, or any establishment where I’ve signed in, warning me that somebody had COVID-19 at the time I was there.

Why were we jotting down our names and numbers again?

Naicker disagreed with Welte, saying that hand sanitising should remain in place “as it prevented other diseases such as gastroenteritis (diarrhoea and vomiting) and acute respiratory illnesses”.

She agreed on ceasing to take people’s temperatures:

Naicker added that mask-wearing, especially in indoor environments, did well to decrease transmission, and should be implemented alongside social distancing, hand hygiene and working in well-ventilated rooms.

I can handle wearing masks indoors for a while longer.

Not in schools, mind you, according to Prof Madhi:

There is NO need for children to still be wearing masks in schools. Besides them usually not wearing it correctly( which is very uncomfortable for prolonged period) most of the time, the type of masks they use provide little protection in preventing or acquiring infections.

— Shabir Madhi (@ShabirMadh) March 2, 2022

South Africa will experience a fifth wave, with Discovery chief executive Adrian Gore hopeful that it won’t be as severe as previous waves.

We can do our bit by continuing to employ effective methods of reducing COVID-19 transmission amidst a return to what has been long been dubbed ‘the new normal’.

Whatever that means.

[source:news24]