As SA celebrates a move to Level 2 Lockdown from Tuesday morning, including a welcome return of alcohol and tobacco sales, I’m mindful of a couple of points that I feel shouldn’t be overlooked.
Firstly, please don’t let the joy of having your creature comforts back make you forget that the SA government response to coronavirus has generally been shoddy, unnecessarily opaque, often illogical and completely riddled with corruption.
And secondly, please don’t let the the joy of having your creature comforts back make you forget that the virus is still very much around, and that similar policies of opening up economies have resulted in spikes in Covid-19 cases and returns to heavier lockdowns all over the world.
We have the power to control this to a certain extent: continuing to wear masks, regularly washing our hands, socially distancing and not sharing indoor spaces are all simple things the public can do to limit the spread of the virus, and are even more important now that we are generally going to be out and about more.
Things might seem like they’re getting back to normal, but they’re actually not normal at all.
Please don’t forget that.