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CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Volume 31, No 3, May/June 2020
AFRICA
115
therapy and there are no COVID-19 vaccines. However, if all
of us receive and recommend the ’flu vaccine to all, the reduced
additional burden of respiratory illness on the healthcare system
will make a significant difference on our capacity to treat those
with non-COVID-19-related emergencies.
22
Conclusion
COVID-19 is here to stay. The WHO released a statement
predicting approximately 200 000 deaths from COVID-19 in
Africa, describing a unique disease profile with slower rates of
transmission in lower age groups with severe disease.
23
South
Africa is facing community spread of COVID-19. Only time
will tell whether the health experts’ grim predictions about what
is to come can be disproved, but the exponentially growing
numbers are not promising. As we acclimatise ourselves to this
new normal and learn to live with COVID-19, it will be crucial
to heed the lessons of those who have fought the good fight
before us.
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