Professor Salim Abdool Karim, a leading figure in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, shared the moments that shaped his understanding of the global crisis on Tuesday in an address to the Cape Town Press Club.
“I have never in the past had a pandemic where things moved this rapidly,” said Professor Karim, one of the world’s top epidemiologists.
Before helping to lead the fight against Covid-19, Professor Karim played a pivotal role fighting the AIDs pandemic.
He recalled the very first moment he learned of the coronavirus – but little did he know then that it would result in the deaths of millions and a global shutdown.
“I was on a family vacation on 30 December when my watch beeped and buzzed. I looked at it and it said there was a Pro-med alert,” he said.
“It was saying undiagnosed pneumonia China, Wuhan. I didn’t give it a second thought because the Chinese know how to deal with it.”
He said he received these kinds of alerts regularly as a member of Pro-med, an international warning system for outbreaks.
However, on 11 January, Karim’s perspective shifted dramatically when a colleague showed him the genetic sequence of the new virus.
“As I looked at it, I realised that we were dealing with something quite different. It was something we needed to take seriously.”
The virus spread rapidly and Karim and his team faced the daunting task of procuring test kits.
“Usually, it takes a long time before you get a test kit because it was a completely new organism. We had a sequence within two weeks, and tests available within five weeks,” said Karim.
He spoke about the pace at which the scientific community responded to Covid-19 compared to previous pandemics like HIV, when it took years to develop a test.
“We quickly contacted Beijing for kits and they didn’t have a problem. But the challenge was bringing them to South Africa because no planes were flying out of their country,” he said.
They eventually managed to secure the kits through Addis Ababa.
The situation escalated rapidly, with the first South African case confirmed on 15 March, prompting the announcement of a nationwide lockdown on the same day.
Karim, who chaired the committee responsible for providing evidence to the Department of Health, played a pivotal role in guiding South Africa’s response to the pandemic.
At the press club event, Karim also launched his book titled Standing Up for Science.
In the book, he offers a personal, behind-the-scenes account of the first years of the pandemic and provides valuable insights into the challenges of providing scientific evidence to a sceptical public.
Pictured above: Professor Salim Abdool Karim speaking at the press club
Image source: Buziwe Nocuze
