Will there be a lockdown? Are we running out of hospital beds? Are children and the working-age population more susceptible to the new variant of the coronavirus circulating in the country? Is it safe to send children to schools? Are there new hotspots emerging? Why is there no sufficient testing and tracing?
These are burning questions with Covid-19 infections in the country surging for three weeks straight. Still, neither the Oli administration nor the Covid-19 Crisis Management Centre seems to have any answers to contain the second wave and avert any disastrous situation.
On Saturday, a meeting of the Covid-19 Crisis Management Centre discussed containment measures like shutting schools and introducing restrictions on night businesses, restaurants and public transport. The meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Ishwar Pokhrel failed to make any decisions needed to break the chain of transmission.
Meanwhile, the worst fears of epidemiologists and infectious disease doctors are coming true. Pressure on hospitals has increased as doctors report more seriously ailing patients. Cases are rising among children and the working-age population. At the same time, life continues in the country as if there is no pandemic despite several warnings by the Health Ministry that we need to continue practising physical distancing and wear face masks amid a fragile situation.
If 2020 has taught us anything, we cannot prevent a second wave unless we significantly reduce the frequency of contact, increase testing and tracing, and ensure that suspects and those infected are properly quarantined or isolated. These are essential measures to break the chain of transmission and save lives, especially when it is crystal clear that the fast-spreading United Kingdom variant of the coronavirus is responsible for the recent spike in new cases. Therefore, the Oli administration must mobilise the state machinery to speed vaccine deals, and, foremost, put epidemiologists and infectious disease doctors in charge of managing the current wave and saving lives.
Given our fragile situation, it will take both the government and the public to avert a large second wave of new infections, which can jeopardise our economy and social fabric. We are all in this together, and each one of us has a significant role to play. The government must urgently communicate the grave risks and the devastating consequences a second wave can bring. It needs to ensure that the safety protocols are strictly adhered to, or the virus will circulate swiftly and overwhelm our poor health systems.
The public also needs to understand that our situation will only worsen if we do not practise safe behaviour and continue to be callous when wearing masks and practising physical distance. No one is safe unless we are all vaccinated and the vaccines, too, are only capable of preventing severe or life-threatening cases. Studies have shown that implementing public safety protocols can avoid the need for lockdowns, and the lifting of temporary restrictions should be gradual and guided by epidemiological data. A large second wave is preventable. Let’s not ignore science and worsen our situation.
17.12°C Kathmandu
