Convenor of the Progressive Health Forum Dr Aslam Dasoo has added his voice to mounting calls for government to end the National State of Disaster.
He joins many other medical experts who say most of the measures in place are simply unfit to deal with where South Africa is right now in the fight against the coronavirus.
Several civic society organisations, political parties and other health experts are weighing in on the matter, saying it is now becoming a hindrance to people’s lives.
On January 14, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini -Zuma extended the National State of Disaster by another month until the 15th of February.
The extension was granted in terms of the Disaster Management Act.
The Act empowers the Minister to extend the State of Disaster on a month-to-month basis once the first three months have expired.
Dr Dasoo says the mutation of the coronavirus has forced people to adapt and live with it.
“The powers that exist within the cabinet, in the legislation are sufficient to deal with incidences that might arise and where the government may need to intervene. The only real instance of that intervention should be when there is a threat to the health services infrastructure and health services being overwhelmed. All other activities within society should be allowed to continue. And one last aspect about the Disaster Management Act is that it has taken away the parliamentary oversight of our constitutional democracy for far too long,” says Dr Dasoo.
In the video below, medical experts from Wits University explain why the National State of Disaster needs to end:
SA’s COVID-19 stats
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) reports 3 197 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 585 888. This increase represents an 8.8% positivity rate.
Due to the ongoing audit exercise by the National Department of Health (NDoH), there may be a backlog of COVID-19 mortality cases reported.
A total of 132 deaths were reported, and of these, 23 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours, brining the total fatalities to 94 397 to date.
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-Additional reporting by SABC News
