Dlamini-Zuma says everyone knows cigarettes affect the lungs.
Covid-19 attacks the lungs. The public has also talked about smoking practices that can spread the virus and others have pointed out that cigarettes, as well as Covid-19, are bad for the lungs and why does the government allow it?
“To be honest, I forgot about a disk that people smoke together. I forgot how people spit in the attic and smoke it. This kind of stuff was highlighted by the public, who pointed out the dangers of smoking, especially about how the poor smoke. So we collectively made a decision.
“That’s the story about tobacco. It’s not assumptions, it’s science. If it wasn’t a problem we would smoke here, but public smoking is not allowed. Once Covid-19 is gone, things can return to normal. The measures are not draconian, it’s the virus, ”says Dlamini-Zuma.
Dlamini-Zuma says many people say the measures are draconian, but it’s not as if the government has risen from the blue and made decisions. Everything the government is doing is about fighting the virus. We are opening the economy because it cannot stay closed while we deal with the virus the minister said.
A total of 5,350 Covid-19 cases have been reported in South Africa, the health department released in a statement on Wednesday night.