The SA Medical Research Council, which had previously expressed disappointment and embarrassment after its head, Professor Glenda Gray, openly rubbished government’s lockdown regulations, has u-turned on its views.
The council released a short statement, saying after further investigations it found Gray was not in the wrong when she criticised government's handling of the pandemic in her private capacity, and not as president of the SAMRC.
“The SAMRC board received communication from the department of health regarding the SAMRC president’s comments. The board has discussed this matter with Prof Gray and looked into our relevant SAMRC policies. We did not find transgression of these policies by Prof Gray,” the council said. “The board has decided that it will not be instituting any further investigation on this matter. [It] encourages Prof Gray, the minister of health and the ministerial advisory committee to amicably resolve the issue of statements made in the media in the best interests of all parties and the nation."last week, Gray said the government's phased exit from the lockdown was nonsensical and unscientific.
The publication quoted her as saying that some of the lockdown regulations were “not based in science”, “completely unmeasured” and “almost as if someone is sucking regulations out of their thumb and implementing rubbish”. TimesLIVE reported that health minister Zweli Mkhize had come out in defence of the health ministry, saying Gray had been unprofessional and not entirely truthful in her utterances.
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