Govt must campaign for compliance with health guidelines
No sooner had the virus reached a trough than we see a spike in the number of infected cases in the country. Some countries have been so badly infected, like Italy, that they have gone into another countrywide lock down. To make matters worse, different variants have emerged that might be resistant to the vaccines developed so far, certainly they are considerably more resistant to treatment than the original Covid-19 virus, and more infectious.
Statistics show that in the last four weeks the number of infected persons has shot up in the country and hospital admission has spiked tremendously, particularly in the last one week, by almost 100 percent. According to virologists, there may be several reasons for this. The fall of infection rate to below two percentage in the previous 2-3 months gave us the feeling that the pandemic was all but gone, and the minimum precautionary measures of masking and social distancing were no longer required. Added to that was the false notion that with taking of the first doze of the vaccine we could go back to business as usual. And of course, there is the new UK variant which is, reportedly, much more infectious than the old variety. Virologists also fear that due to repeated mutations, one cannot dismiss the possibility of the growth of a new local variety of the virus.
The newly infected patients in the majority of cases not only need oxygen but intensive critical care also. Unfortunately, we have been again caught off guard. The available ICUs are full to capacity, and if the current trend continues, will fall short of the requirement. As it has been reported, many patients are being turned away from some hospitals. While we take comfort from the assurance of the DGHS, that our facilities can treat the rising number of patients on the existing ICU beds and that our oxygen supply is enough and that central oxygen supply systems have been set up in many medical college hospitals and the hospitals with 250 beds, we must cater for the new wave.
The virus is so highly infectious that no facility can ever be enough. Therefore, apart from enhancing the hospital facilities, we believe that the best way to combat the virus is to prevent its transmission and growth by adopting all the protective measures as individuals. That means masking up mandatorily, washing our hands at regular intervals, and maintaining social distance. We believe that the government must start another campaign to reinforce the observance of these health guidelines. We can go back to business as usual, but only at our own peril.
