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SA’s ubuntu spirit, which emphasizes the unity of humanity, and decisive leadership may be behind the country’s success against the Covid-19 pandemic, says the country’s leading epidemiologist and infectious disease specialist, Professor Salim Abdool Karim. .
The chairman of the Covid-19 ministerial advisory committee also praised the role played by the Western Cape, which was the first epicenter of Covid-19 in Africa, noting that the province shared with the nation what they did right and wrong in dealing with the pandemic.
“I think we saw that when you try to deal with adversity, those who are most successful are those who understand our fundamental interdependence. Those who have chosen to go with me first, it’s about what I want … the individualism emerging in those countries that have seen disastrous responses to the epidemic. Nowhere is it clearer than in the United States. We can never have a situation where we can believe that we can be safe, or I can be safe, when you are not safe. “
Abdool Karim spoke during a webinar on Covid-19 and how the Western Cape became the epicenter of Africa. The webinar was organized by Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) on Tuesday.
“This virus is about how it is transmitted from you to me or from me to you, you are safe because I am safe. I am safe because you are safe. That interdependence is central to our approach. If we are divided and we haggle among ourselves, we are weak, and this virus knows how to exploit weakness the moment we are weak. Use that as an opportunity to spread out, ”he said.
On Wednesday night President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to announce that SA will move to level 1 lockdown, which will see the country’s borders open and international travel allowed after declining daily infection rates and increasing the availability of beds in trauma units. So far, SA has had 651,521 cases in total, with 772 new cases in the latest figures, closer to the World Health Organization threshold of one positive case per 100,000, or fewer than 600 new cases per day.
Abdool Karim said the decisive leadership of the Western Cape has been critical to the success the country has had thus far.
