Lockdown: Was it all worth it?

Experts differ on the efficacy of the hard lockdown in March to curb the spread of the coronavirus, with some saying it was poorly thought out and unconvincing and others saying it was necessary to put adequate measures in place.

The government’s handling of the hard lockdown restrictions to curtail the spread of Covid-19 was far from perfect but experts agree that shutting down the country was necessary, or the number of deaths could have been higher.

Dr Glenda Davison, associate professor and head of the Biomedical Sciences Department at Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Cape Town, said the main purpose of the hard lockdown in March was to slow down the spread of Covid-19 to give government and the healthcare sector the time to prepare.

“This, although far from perfect, was achieved.

“Field hospitals were built, the number of [intensive care unit] beds were increased and [personal protective equipment] was ordered.

“We do know there were problems but I do believe that without the lockdown, the number of deaths would have been far higher. So I am going to say that the lockdown was the best decision at the time and it achieved what it was meant to,” she said.

Davison said the lockdown was never going to completely eradicate the virus because SA had communities that were unable to stay in their homes due to circumstances beyond their control, such as overcrowding and lack of basic amenities.

She said because SA was not a high-income country and was bedevilled by high rates of joblessness, maintaining a hard lockdown for a long period was always going to be impossible.

Davison said to save the economy, restrictions had to be eased but this sadly resulted in people starting to move around and gather in large numbers, giving the virus an opportunity to spread.

“This is what we are beginning to see in some areas such as the Eastern Cape. This is not unique to SA as Europe and other parts of the world are experiencing the same. Those countries which have no infections at all, such as New Zealand, achieved this by shutting their borders completely.

“If, however, they opened them and allowed complete free movement, the virus would again begin to spread,” she explained.

Davison said in order to stop a huge resurgence, citizens need to be responsible, wear a mask in public, avoid large gatherings and wash hands.

“The news about possible vaccines is promising and hopefully by the end of 2021 these can be distributed,” she added.

Dr Petronella Mugoni, a public health communication expert, believes the lockdown was effective because although SA’s Covid-19 infection rose very rapidly at some point, the healthcare facilities were not overwhelmed with patients.

However, she said a shortcoming of the lockdown period was the overemphasis on the clinical management of Covid-19 without equal and urgent emphasis on social and behavioural change communication and community education on risk perception, prevention and mitigation.

“The lockdown may have been effective in that it contributed to lowering individual perceptions of personal risk of contracting Covid-19 to the point that many people no longer thought they or their families were vulnerable,” Mugoni said.

She said many people were not wearing masks correctly and consistently, were going out and socialising more.

We do know there were problems