Is it ‘firebreak’ lockdown time?

SA COULD HAVE SELECTIVE SHUTDOWN

Rapidly rising Covid-19 infection numbers in the Western and Eastern Cape have fuelled speculation about whether government will consider a so-called “fi rebreak” to help stop the spread of Covid-19.

In the UK, Wales entered a “fi rebreak lockdown” towards the end of last month in a bid to halt a surge in Covid-19 infections.

A fi rebreak refers to an urgent, short-term intervention that could include increased curfew hours and restrictions on the movement of people, among other urgent measures.

Locally, a hotspot alert has already been issued for the Garden Route, where the George and Knysna districts have more cases than at any point during the pandemic.

Theo Venter, a political analyst with the North-West University, said the political leadership simply could not afford to lock down tourist hotspots over the festive season and thus could opt for a fi rebreak of a week this month.

“Most people are thinking towards Christmas and having a lockdown then will kill the tourism industry,” he says.

“I think they will do a selective lockdown now and the advantage is you can focus your resources. For example, you can have police at the entry and exit roads instead of all over the country doing nothing.”

Venter said a differentiated strategy should have been used for the lockdown from the onset.

“The Disaster Management Act allows for different areas to be at different lockdown levels, down to district level,” he said.

I think it’s a logical intervention to try and manage the epidemic, instead of a lockdown.

Prof Glenda Gray

Chief executive of the SA Medical Research Council

“In all probability, we will now see different districts under lockdown for a week or so.”

But globally, infections are gett ing out of hand and hospitals are fi lling up. A fi rebreak would, therefore, be a logical way to slow down transmissions, said SA Medical Research Council chief executive Professor Glenda Gray. “Curfew is also important because it will stop people from driving at night and having accidents fi lling hospital beds,” she said.

“I think it’s a logical intervention to try and manage the epidemic, instead of a lockdown.”

Adrian Puren of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases

warns that there is much debate over the effectiveness of fi rebreaks “given the criteria, which allows for greater contact for the holiday season. It is thought that there will likely be a third wave as a consequence”. –