Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 130, May 2020 | Page 15

LOCKDOWN
Guide to COVID-19
• Whether you keep your mask on or not when you are on your own, it is very
important to keep your own bodily fluids to yourself: No spitting or nose
clearing, and cover your mouth when you cough and sneeze.
What About My
Favourite Races?
Two Oceans, Comrades and all
other races in South Africa are
cancelled. So are all the iconic
races all over the world. What
now? SARS-CoV2 virus is a
novel virus. We are continuously
learning new things about it,
but what is going to happen,
where is it going, and how
long is this going to go on for,
are questions which cannot
be answered at this moment
in time.
It seems Asia and Oceania
are over the peak and have
the disease in their countries
under control. Europe and the
USA seem to have reached
the peak and are in the plateau
phase. In contrast, we are still
in the foothills of our mountain,
the height of which, we hope,
has been flattened by our
lockdown and public health
measures. There are many months ahead of us where the cases are still going to
rise exponentially.
Social distancing, good hygiene
measures, social responsibility in
all of us, adequate contact tracing
and testing need to be in place for
lockdown to be relaxed in order
to prevent uncontrolled spread
of this disease. There are many
countries we can learn from, and
we need to make sure we do it
right. The expected peak will be
in August/September. That said,
businesses need to be opened in
the meantime, and it is likely that
lockdown will be relaxed gradually
within the next few weeks… but
it is very unlikely that there will be
any mass participation events for
the rest of 2020.
The influenza epidemic of 1918 is often used to guide us in how we manage this
pandemic. Based on historical records, the cities where lockdown and social
distancing were implemented fared a lot better than those that allowed mass
gatherings to take place, as evidenced by the flatter curves in the first wave on
the left of the graph. As time went on, however, people grew tired of the social
distancing measures and started congregating on the streets once again.
The second wave of the 1918 pandemic that resulted was much more deadly than
the first. The first wave resembled typical flu epidemics, where the ones most at
risk were the sick and the elderly, while the younger and healthier people recovered
easily. The second wave killed mainly adults who were young and fit.
We don’t know how this epidemic is going to progress, how it is going to end, and
whether there will be a second or third wave. We don’t know if there will be a drug
that will be highly effective, or if there will be a vaccine. The virus is too new, and
research is still ongoing. That is why there is so much caution in relaxation of the
lockdown, and why we may need to wait longer to get back to normal running. We
can only wait and see.
About the Author
Dr Caroline Lee is an anaesthetist in private
practice at Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg.
She is also an avid runner who has travelled
extensively across both South Africa and the
rest of the world to participate in races, almost
always with camera in hand. She started running
in 2010 and to date has completed over 100
marathons and ultras, along with well over 200
other races from 5km up to 32km, on both road
and trail. She has a marathon PB of 4:00:24.
In her running travels, Caroline has finished the
Amsterdam, Paris, London, Munich, Frankfurt, Boston, Tokyo, New York,
Berlin, Chicago and Edinburgh Marathons, as well the Highlands Fling (53
miles Trail) and the Dramathon in Scotland. She is a holder of the Abbotts
World Majors Six Star Medal. One of her most memorable races was
undoubtedly the 2013 Boston Marathon, as she was less than 700m from the
finish line when the bomb went off at the finish!
Back home, she has finished the Comrades Marathon seven times in eight
attempts, and has earned 11 medals at the Two Oceans event (six ultra, three
half marathon and two trail). She has also run many long distance trail races in
South Africa, including the Mont Aux Sources 50km, Cederberg 100km, Sky
Run 65km, Rhodes 52km, Three Cranes Challenge, Somkanda 50km, MuTter
100km, Outeniqua 108km, Namaqua Quest, Golden Gate and Whale Trail
50km, just to name a few. She holds a permanent number at the Rhodes Trail,
and was the female winner of the Ultimate 100 miler in 2012.
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