South Africa: Learn from others

Peter du ToitI'm the founder of FutureWork IQ where I spend my time assisting businesses to improve their climate literacy so as to understand the projected impacts from the expanding climate crisis and how to adapt their workplaces in the face of these impacts.

The virus arrived in South Africa in January/February in the Western Cape and has subsequently followed the trajectory it has elsewhere:

A slow start
A surge
A steep decline

But this is not the end of the story because places that are ahead of us have experienced two more stages to this:

A 90/120-day “lull”
A resurgence

73 countries around the globe are currently experiencing this resurgence. (You can see the “lull” between the red lines in the attached pic – data for France, Germany and Spain)

LESSON

Reducing the restrictions on mobility, gatherings and meetings DOES NOT mean the virus is gone. Based on the experience of these 73 countries the likelihood of a resurgence come December 2020 in SA is pretty strong.

From a business continuity perspective plan accordingly. (Eg. in the UK Boris Johnson is again about to appeal to people to work from home. See here.)

My recommendation is to keep remote work arrangements in place. Continue meeting online. Continue with online events. Continue getting comfortable working this way. It will pay off.