Most countries south of the equator have not fared badly. Right now, you’re coming into your flu season probably after Covid-19, except Brazil. Basically, in our analysis which has been very global we looked at countries where there were at least 50 deaths and 3,000 cases, it seems that Covid-19 is in some ways connected to seasonal flu. Thank you very much, it’s a great pleasure to be here. Clearly it would be lovely if you could give us your thoughts about this country, if you’ve had the chance to have a look at your old homeland. In the interview that we published on BizNews that you had with you never referenced South Africa at all. But there are people in South Africa who are not so proud of what you believe the world should be doing right now i.e. We’re very proud of you from that perspective. We think fully formed and fully developed because you then went on to achieve great things in the world including, being the only living scientist from South Africa who won the Nobel Prize. So you were born in Pretoria, you went to Pretoria Boys High, left South Africa at the age of 16. Professor Levitt, let’s start with the South African connection. We’ll get into that in more detail but because of the way he’s shaking up thoughts about Covid-19 around the world. It’s a real pleasure to be talking with Professor Michael Levitt not just because of his connection to South Africa. There is a call among scientists to rethink the way governments are dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.īizNews founder Alec Hogg interviews Professor Michael Levitt on the logic of lockdown Nearly six months later, European countries – like Britain – have re-entered lockdowns, with increasingly strict restrictions that are bringing businesses to a standstill. It was first published on BizNews Premium.
#BestofBizNews: This interview took place while South Africa was in lockdown. A rational perspective on a very noisy subject – much required at a time when common sense is too often overwhelmed by blowhard punditry. But SA’s only living Nobel Prize science laureate (chemistry: 2013) also supports a sensible re-opening of the economy to ensure lockdown pain is not sacrificed by an economic disaster.
The Medical Faculty and Computer Science professor reckons SA’s peak may be as early as two weeks away – and while no fan of lockdowns, says the country is one of the few to have applied this blunt tool for the right reason at the right time. Mostly positive: He praises the early lockdown and reckons gloomy forecasts of infections only peaking in September could be way off beam.
And as you’ll hear from this podcast, the brilliant academic has some insightful perspectives on how his former homeland is handling the Covid-19 crisis. Although he left the country as a 16 year old, Pretoria-born Nobel laureate, Stanford professor Michael Levitt, still describes himself as proudly South African.
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