Expert: South Africa lockdown has paid off but cases could surgeA woman carries a bag of maize meal during the distribution of food parcels to vulnerable residents by the local government during a 21-day lockdown due to spread of Covid-19 in Johannesburg's township of Soweto, South Africa. [Reuters]As South Africa prepares to lift a tight lockdown, the expert leading the fight against coronavirus said the restrictions have paid off but warned of a possible surge of cases in July and overwhelmed hospitals.Chief Covid-19 adviser Salim Karim said South Africa had performed better than developed countries in slowing transmission although the number of cases has continued to rise. South Africa announced its first coronavirus case on March 5 and went into lockdown on March 27, when infections spiked to 1,170. If we look at a simple comparison, comparing South Africa to the United Kingdom for the first two weeks of the epidemic, our numbers were virtually the same. SEE ALSO: Spain goes under lockdown to fight coronavirusThe issue of the lockdown is not only an epidemiological one.

Source: Standard Digital April 30, 2020 13:52 UTC