Thread by @katjanechild

I am going to do a thread of reasons to end the lockdown or at least go to stage 3.
NEASA employers assoc. surveyed its members & 86% of 10 000 people don't support lockdown.
People will end it anyway with black market hairdressers opening & people trying to survive financially

2. The science shows lockdown works if used to trace every infected person's contacts and isolate them all and cut cases as NZ and Korea did. SA didn't. We didn't use lockdown well.
Hospitals can only prepare so much too- unless we wait for 7 yrs to train more docs.

3. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has said himself cases are spreading in the community - which means among people. Since 2 weeks into lockdown, there have been more than 7000 known new infections, thus it's not stopping the spread of illness. & we are under testing & undercounting

One of the prime places to spread illness is crowded places without ventilation. Taxis do this. Taxis run 70% full when College of Public Health says no more than 50% and strict sanitation procedures.
So there isn't lockdown where there needs to be anyway.

5. If you drive to Pretoria, CBD, Alex which I have or HIllbrow I am told- life is busy and crowded and normal.
We have an economic lockdown making people starve but not a real lockdown really. so virus is still spreading as the numbers show. Poverty also shortens life.

6. The disease will spread, then peak, then wane as viruses do and come back. we Cant be in lockdown for two years waiting for it to infect 60% of pop or as many as needed before there is widespread immunity.
It will spread. The SA govt is just making economy crash.

7. Poverty is directly correlated with a lower life expectancy. In about 70% of cases, COVID-19 literally kills people above age of 70 & above. Few SA citizens reach the age corona will kill them because poorer people live shorter lives. And now we are making poorer people poorer

8. Prof Karim and Prof Madhi, A-rated scientists who work in fields of infectious diseases think lockdown should end as the disease is and will spread anyway. They know irreparably damaging an economy doesn't stop illnesses and viruses spreading.

9. We are causing other illnesses and death through the lockdown as people avoid hospitals and healthcare.
TB tests are down by half. Measles vaccines are down. This means other diseases remain untreated. TB is our biggest killer and doctors are not picking up cases now.

10. Various estimates put deaths between 20 000 to 25000 this year with another 20000 next year. Double that to 48000, in case models are all wrong.
It's double TB fatalities in a yr.
Would we have shut SA down if I said TB deaths will double in 2020?
Is this the best response?

The HIV modelling consortium put together by UNAIDS and WHO predict half a million extra deaths from Aids by 2021 in sub-Saharan Africa because people are getting tested and treated thanks to the lockdowns. These 500 000 deaths are avoidable casualties of responses to Covid-19.

12. The rule of law matters. The regulations restricting exercise times, fully-fledged e-commerce/online shopping and restaurant takeaways are not rational in the legal definition. They do not support the lockdown purpose they have to serve. They would not stand up in court.

13. We are following illegal laws- were they challenged- that do not support but in fact undermine social distancing.
This is not good for democracy.
These regulations need to be challenged for review or lockdown stage 4 must end.

14. The govt is behaving illegally and irrationally and has too much petty power to determine shops can sell closed-toe shoes but not open toe shows- that no one would buy in winter anyway. This kind of govt power is dangerous and bad the economy and democracy.

15. This is becoming a political game ahead of the ANC National General Council (NGC )in July when some ANC leaders will gun for Cyril's blood. It is not about the country or health anymore.
Millions of people are suffering needlessly.

16. People are starving. & 7 million job losses are estimated. The lockdown can't stop the virus so why are we making people suffer like this. Some will never get their jobs back.
It's bad for health and stability.
And where will govt find he lost R285 bn in taxes.