I write this article as a 72-year old man with hypertension well-controlled on antihypertensive medication and as such an individual who falls into the group of individuals at higher risk for a more complicated course of COVID-19 should I acquire that infection. I am also a doctor and spent my professional life as both a practicing specialist clinician and a manager of health services. The reason for my stating this at the outset will become apparent to the reader. In South Africa the surge of COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 associated deaths overall first peaked around July of this year, 2020, and subsequently declined. Prior to the surge the country went…
-
-
Decision Making in Government … the good and the bad!
I have just finished reading the book written by John Bolton, “The Room Where It Happened”. Bolton was the National Security Advisor of the United States and worked closely in this position with President Trump. It is a startling analysis of how decisions were made or not made at the highest level of the United States Government during his relatively short term of just over a year as the National Security Advisor. While a number of books have been written reflecting the experience of working with President Trump, this book is unique in that it reflects the experience of a political insider, a person who previously had held senior positions…