Exclusive: SA’s Covid-19 govt advisor Prof Salim Karim sheds light how far his reach goes

Professor Salim Karim discusses coronavirus testing in South Africa and explains why the virus strategy changes and how this will take time.

Published on:

02 Jul 2020, 9:32 am

Professor Salim Karim, the man leading the way on scientific coronavirus advice to Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mhkize, gives us unique insight into just how far his reach goes, what he can advise on, and what he has no control over. It's easy to pick holes in a strategy which affects nearly 60 million lives – it's entirely another thing to take full responsibility for your part in it and to own up when things don't work. Like lockdown level 3 regulations enacted by other cabinet ministers who have their own scientific advisory teams – and for whose actions he often wrongly gets the flak. He gives us chapter and verse of one such change he has advised on – among 50 advisories from his task team that Dr Mkhize has accepted and acted on. It's around coronavirs testing which was virtually imploding on itself as the national laboratory services got bogged down in an impossible volume of tests with turnaround times, negating the entire point of the exercise. Like turning around an oil supertanker at sea, it takes time. Prof Karim explains why. – Chris Bateman