Virus here to stay for long time

Minister urges country not to neglect other medical conditions and behave as though all we have is Covid-19

HEALTH Minister Zweli Mkhize warned that South Africans were going to live with Covid-19 for a long time and that other causes of ill health had to be managed as these would also kill people.

Mkhize was speaking yesterday as part of the social cluster briefing where ministers in the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) updated the nation on the continued fight against the spread of the virus.

This briefing came after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced his decision to reimpose some of the restrictive lockdown regulations, including the ban on liquor sales and family visits and an imposition of a night curfew as infections surged in the country.

With more than 4 000 Covid-19 deaths and close to 300 000 infections, Mkhize said similar attention had to be paid to other deadly illnesses, including tuberculosis, HIV, diabetes, cancer and high blood pressure.

“It becomes important that people must continue to get their treatment from hospitals so that they are able to manage and keep those diseases under control.

“We have noticed that during the lockdown, there was a reduction in the number of people who were coming for testing for HIV, TB and for immunisation, as well as some of the basic essential health services,” Mkhize said.

“They will still cause deaths if they are not controlled so we cannot behave as though all we have is Covid-19. We need to keep that balance because Covid-19 becomes more opportunistic on those whose control is poor on the other diseases,” Mkhize said.

About 8 million people in the country live with HIV, 4 million with diabetes while one in three suffer from hypertension, which Mkhize said had been associated with Covid-19 deaths.

The government has condemned the irresponsible behaviour of those who continued to hold social gatherings in defiance reguations.

Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma indicated that the prolonged restrictions imposed by government were not aimed at limiting freedoms but at combating the spread of the disease.

“This is really a fight against Covid19. In the world we are number 25 in terms of population size but already we are number 10 in cases, and in the number per day we are even more advanced. We need to take every measure and do everything to really protect this beautiful nation of ours,” she said.

Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu moved to allay criticism over the delay and poor administration of the R350 special Covid-19 social relief grant for the unemployed.

Zulu said her department had received 7.7 million applications, with more than R1 billion having been paid out.

She said 4 424 720 were approved and 2 174 046 were found to be beneficiaries of other income, including social grants, Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), among other databases.