Covid-19 Molotov cocktail

The current approach to fighting the spread of the Covid-19 virus, advocated by the government and supported unquestioningly by most media houses

— hospital-driven care — is simply wrong. Hospitals are the last line of defence. The fight to contain the virus outbreak should start in our homes and with local municipalities.

Hospitals cannot deal with the expected influx of Covid-19 infections. The Centre for Disease Control thinks in the worst-case scenario we should expect between 500,000 and 1-million admissions. Most patients will need ventilators we don’t have — airborne germs first destroy the protective cells of the upper respiratory tract, and most victims succumb to pneumonia. Our hospitals cannot cope with the seasonal flu admissions. We don’t have enough beds.

Imagine if you have 15 patients that need to be admitted to intensive care at the same time.

Research has shown that Covid-19 has a 3.4% mortality rate, with the elderly and sick particularly vulnerable. SA is a Molotov cocktail, a mixture of understaffed hospitals and the highest number of HIV/Aids patients in the world. Covid-19 is a new pathogen and we don’t have immunity to it.

It is for these reasons that a hospital-focused fight against Covid-19 is misguided. We had best hope that this pandemic will be like the bird flu and spare Africa. But hoping is not a strategy.

We must use this window period before winter to prepare properly. The fight starts at local level; communities must be educated before people get infected. We know overcrowding and unhygienic conditions are the breeding ground for viral outbreaks. Squatter camps, the inner city, prisons, stadiums, festivals, churches, shopping malls and schools must all be examined.

Why are we not seeing disinfection campaigns in Marabastad, Hillbrow, Pollsmoor and at shopping malls? Dr Lucas Ntyintyane

Via e-mail