NATIONAL NEWS - South Africa is ready and prepared to manage any outbreak or transmission of diseases or viruses from other parts of the world, as China battles with Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) outbreak.
National Department of Health spokesperson Foster Mohale said the country continuously strengthens its preparedness, response and recovery strategies, The Witness reports.
“The lessons learned from our Covid response will guide us in addressing other outbreaks, whether pandemics or epidemics,” Mohale said.
This reassurance comes amid reports of HMPV spreading rapidly in China.
“As the government, we’re closely monitoring the situation in China like any other outbreak in other parts of the world, using our event-based surveillance and continually looking for updates on the situation,” said Mohale.
HMPV, mirrors symptoms of other respiratory illnesses such as Covid, has raised concerns and significantly strained the Chinese healthcare system.
Mohale said that there was no cause for alarm and this was the normal respiratory season in China.
“We will continue our routine surveillance and public health communications and act on any new information or alerts.
“There is no need for the public to panic and the Department of Health working with the NICD [National Institute for Communicable Diseases] will keep the public up-to-date as and when there are new developments,” he said.
Health experts are also urging the public not to panic.
Prof Cheryl Cohen, head of the Centre for Respiratory Diseases and Meningitis at the NICD, said while there were similarities in symptoms between HMPV and other respiratory viruses, it was not the same as the Covid pandemic.
“The two situations are very different; HMPV is a known virus that most people will have some level of immunity to.
“SARS-CoV-2 was unknown, we did not understand the epidemiology and clinical implication of SARS-CoV-2,” said Cohen.
“It is also important to note that the global population had no immunity to SARS-CoV-2 which allowed the virus to spread rapidly.”
She added that, in South Africa, HMPV was detected throughout the year as part of normal seasonal respiratory virus patterns.
“HMPV already circulates every year, all year around, in South Africa, as it is one of the normal seasonal respiratory viruses.
“These cases have not resulted in an emergency and it is not anticipated that should we have an imported case of HMPV into South Africa it would be any different,” she said.
Prof Tulio de Oliveira, director of the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation and the KwaZulu-Natal research innovation and sequencing platform, also said HMPV was not an immediate threat to South Africa.
“We believe it does not present a major danger to us. There is no reason to suspect HMPV will become a global threat like Covid. This virus has been circulating in the population for over 50 years and typically causes mild illness,” De Oliveira said.
In the meantime, the Sandton Chronicle noted with concern a screenshot that is doing the rounds on social media.
Even though dated 6 January 2025, the article is an old story which was published on 24 April 2020. Read the original article here: Covid-19 cases rise to 90 at Morningside Mediclinic
“We urge our readers and the community at large to fact-check screenshots before sharing as this causes unnecessary panic,” Sandton Chronicle said in a statement.
The Gauteng Department of Health reached out to the Sandton Chronicle and is aware of the concern raised by the public. Morningside Mediclinic also contacted the newsroom and we both confirmed that the information was sent and published by the Sandton Chronicle in April 2020.
Article: Caxton publication, The Citizen
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