Priority number one is saving people from the infection. The disease is preventable and the effective prevention of the disease is the government's responsibility.
As the omicron variant is reported as what has driven the SA hospitalization number up, not just because WHO has warned as the potential threat, we probably should not assume the symptoms be mild or milder.
Here is an argument that if we cannot prevent every case, there is no meaning in closing the borders. Or rather, in a more somewhat covert way, "we already have the cases".
Here is this, however; it gains time if we slow down the spread of the disease. It could be a delay of days or weeks or even months. Not only we gain by that time period building up preventive measures and hospitals. We gain by learning more about the cases. It saves lives.
The hard work of gaining stability, the preventive measures of each and every one of us, the small care each one of us exercises, the masks and distances, the precautions should pay off. The masks your family and friends put on you, the extra care from your neighbor and distancing, the sense of a responsible citizen, have protected the community.
Such numbers of deaths should not be taken for granted. We do our part; so should the government.