Chairperson of the Government Advisory Committee, Professor Salim Abdool Karim says there is too little information to determine whether Madagascar has indeed discovered a cure for COVID-19.
The island nation has said it was now producing a herbal tonic from a plant called – Artemisia – for prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
Some governments have signed onto the idea, despite warnings from the World Health Organisation that the tonic has not been subjected to any scientific testing. Professor Karim invited Madagascar to make the treatment available to scientists for proper investigation.
“We can’t simply say this definitely works because the president says so. We can’t say this definitely works because this family says so or this person says so. We have to have the evidence and I think what is important is to keep an open mind because medications and treatments can often come from a place that you would least expect.”
Madagascar herbs: We received a call from the government of Madagascar, who asked for help with scientific research.Our scientists would be able to assist with this research.We will only get involved in a scientific analysis of the herb. We are not at that point yet.
— Dr Zweli Mkhize (@DrZweliMkhize) May 6, 2020
In South Africa, five more people have died from the virus, bringing the total fatalities to 153. The number of new coronavirus cases has also risen to 7808. The five fatalities include two from the Western Cape, one from Limpopo and two from KwaZulu-Natal.
A total of 279 379 tests have been conducted to date – with 11 315 tests done in the past 24 hours.
The Western Cape still has the most cases at 3 760; then Gauteng at 1 720 and KwaZulu-Natal at 1 189. The Departement of Health also confirmed 3 153 recoveries.
On Tuesday the Professor asked South Africans not to panic as the coronavirus cases in the country continue to increase. He said that the rising of the numbers is inevitable and can also be attributed to increased testing.
South Africa entered Level-4 lockdown on 1 May which has seen some people returning to work and some sectors of the economy starting to operate.
Professor Karim talking COVID-19 vaccine and medical trials:
