Now in Level 1, and with a 90% COVID-19 recovery rate, South Africa has the 10th highest recovery rate in the world. This is good news, but experts warn there is still the chance of a ‘second wave’ and behaviour change is needed to avert it – especially as relates to the wearing of masks.
While wearing a mask remains one of the most effective measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, many people refuse to wear them, wear them incorrectly or underestimate their importance.
With this in mind, MTN South Africa in partnership with leading experts, Professor Jeffrey Mphahlele (Vice President for Research – The South African Medical Research Council, SAMRC), Dr. Erica Munnik (Clinical Psychologist and Lecturer at the University of the Western Cape), Dr Yewande Alimi (Antimicrobial Resistance Programme Coordinator at the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC) and Professor Alex Welte (South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis, University of Stellenbosch) will today host a free webinar to unpack the most important COVID-19 data and trends, including progress towards a vaccine. The psychology behind why many people still refuse to wear masks will also be analysed.
The live webcast can be viewed this morning from 10:30am to 11:30am HERE. It will be recorded and be available for watching afterwards on the same link.
This webinar follows several initiatives that have seen MTN harnessing the power of its brand, technology and resources to break the chain of transmission. MTN recently zero-rated the COVID Alert SA app to strengthen South Africa’s digital contact tracing efforts.
This builds on the ongoing success of The Africa COVID Communications Intelligence Platform (ACCIP), which is supporting national COVID-19 taskforces across Africa to enhance their ability to implement the necessary responses, as well as direct resources to mitigate the health and economic impacts of the pandemic.
Donations by MTN Foundation towards PPEs in vulnerable areas continue to keep communities across South Africa safe, whilst MTN has reached the milestone of zero-rating over 1,000 public-benefit organisation (PBO) websites to date – keeping the public up-to-date, informed and connected to employment and their studies during this unprecedented time.
“Access to information and to digital solutions remains critical as countries fight to beat the virus, while accelerating recovery and bringing a message of hope. We will continue to harness our technology for good to support communities, governments and the customers we serve.,” says Jacqui O’Sullivan, Executive for Corporate Affairs, MTN South Africa.
The webinar forms part of MTN’s broader #WearItForMe initiative, launched earlier this month across its 21 African markets, which continues to make a difference in the lives of people and communities through its drive to raise awareness about the importance of wearing a mask.
#WearItForMe is a call for behaviour change, imploring people across the continent, and the world, to do the right thing to keep those around them safe. What began with a call by mothers and mother figures for their loved ones to wear masks to keep them safe, has since grown to include celebrities from across the globe, including hip-hop star and Grammy Award-winning producer Khaled Mohamed Khaled, aka DJ Khaled, asking their supporters to do the right thing by covering their faces, socially distancing and adopting healthy sanitisation.
Now is not the time to be complacent, and we will continue our efforts to ensure the awareness about the importance of wearing masks resonates with even more people as we ask everyone to keep doing the right thing and #WearItForMe,” concludes O’Sullivan.