Second wave of Covid-19 cases possible if lockdown lifted too soon – Dr Neil Martinson

The lockdown can seem endless, now that South Africa is past the halfway mark, especially when people are not even allowed to go out for exercise and where alcohol and cigarettes are prohibited. But right now; things are looking up for South Africa. The number of new cases and fatalities has plateaued and a study by Dr Gonzalu Otazu from the New York Institute of Technology has found that there is a correlation between countries that require citizens to get the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine to prevent TB and lower death rates from the coronavirus. This is a vaccine that the majority of South Africans receive as babies. Another plus for South Africa is its vast testing infrastructure due to the high number of HIV/Aids cases in the country, which the deputy director of the Reproductive Health Institute at Wits, Francois Venter has described as unprecedented in the world to ABC. So, it would be easy to rejoice and think we may be close to conquering the Covid-19 beast. In an interview with Biznews founder Alec Hogg for the Inside Covid-19 podcast, the deputy executive director of the Perinatal HIV Research Unit at Baragwanath Hospital, Dr. Neil Martinson had a word of caution and said that a second wave of coronavirus infections is possible if containment measures are lifted too soon. - Linda van Tilburg