SAFTU statement on the announcement of lowering of regulations to level 2
16 August 2020
After five months of brutal lockdown and terror in the face of a deadly virus that is killing killed hundreds of thousands across the world including over 11 500 thousands in South Africa, many working class and poor people in this country will understandably welcome the announcement of a decline in the number of new infections and the easing of restrictions to Level 2. While the figures released by the government may create a sense of hope, we wish to caution hasten to remind South Africans to receive this news with a pinch of salt.
SAFTU is concerned that the massive decline in testing of citizens may give us the wrong picture and breed a false sense of security. The truth is that, unlike at the beginning of lockdown, government is no longer doing contact-tracing nor using Community Healthcare Workers to vigorously screen citizens. At the beginning of the campaign there was aggressive random testing. This is no longer happening.
The reduction in testing from 50 000 tests daily to less than 12 000 is a cause for concern and amounts to criminal abdication of the fight to contain the pandemic, flatten the curve and effectively treat those infected. The fluctuations in numbers linked to increased testing in the private sector offer further proof that the decline in the numbers demonstrates not the rate of infections but of testing. We therefore demand that government increase testing to track the virus, so that those infected can be identified, supported to isolate and receive treatment. The celebratory mood that we have reached our peak may be completely misplaced.
Further evidence can be found in the number of people dying. SAFTU, including its biggest affiliate, has collaborated on the statement issued by the Medical Research Council which points to the massive increase in deaths due to “natural causes” between March and June this year. Our own experience is that the government and the private sector were simply overwhelmed by the demand for testing. Testing results initially took 48 hours yet as we moved deeper into the crisis, results were returned only after two or more weeks. By the time these results come back many people had died, and those who were positive would have spread the disease to family and colleagues at work.