COVID-19: let us avoid post-festive catastrophe

By The Standard and Newsday | Dec. 23, 2021 | 4 Min read

Cases are higher in the fourth wave than during the third wave. This signals that the Omicron variant has high transmissibility but less virulence than the Delta variant that hit us from June to September 2021.

Johannes Marisa COVID-19 cases continue to increase in southern Africa with countries like Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique having been hit by the fourth wave.

The Omicron variant is known to have a constellation of mutations, 30 of which are on the spike protein, making it possible to evade the immune system.

Zimbabwe has put in place measures to contain the virus. Few people are abiding by these regulations despite us facing an unprecedented threat of the coronavirus.

In April 2020, it took four days for the world to record 100 000 cases of COVID-19 but nowadays, an average of 600 000 cases are being recorded on a daily basis. This shows the magnitude the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Many aspects of life have been disrupted, political, economic, social and the threat is still there. COVID-19 has potential to decimate as many people as possible. So far, at least 5,63 million people have succumbed to the virus.

I was in Harare’s central business district yesterday where people were all over the place.

Many didn’t wear masks properly and were not social distancing.

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People should be reminded about the heinous nature of the virus and the measures we are supposed to follow if we are to pull through as a nation.

It is gut-wrenching to lose relatives and friends hence we can reduce the calamity by following laid down measures.

The festive season is upon us, we should be vigilant because we do not want to have post-holiday wailing.

Traditionally, December holidays are known for partying and celebrations but people should be reminded that there is a new world order.

Tomorrow may present misery or grief emanating from COVID-19 complications like respiratory distress syndrome, renal failure, thrombo-embolism and even death.

Let us remember that everyone can be a victim of the diabolical virus, hence the need to follow public health measures like vaccination, social distancing, masking up among many others.

The other challenge is of self-treatment by many of our people yet the severity of the disease can differ from one person to another depending on the existence of comorbidities.

Our country has started to record mortality of more than 10 per day, a signal that there may be sorrow ahead especially after the festive holidays.

There is general belief that a variant is weak if mortality is low especially during the first days of an attack.

It is, therefore, my belief that we should not rush to bask in glory celebrating that the current COVID-19 strain has no power hence no need to observe the stipulated public health measures.

That is gross miscalculation for many reasons, some of which are:

There is no information about the presence or absence of other notorious variants in this fourth wave. With or without the Omicron, the country was going to have the fourth wave in December based on trend analysis.
Although the Omicron seems to be overtaking the other variants, the Delta variant may be prevalent in high numbers as well.
The presence or absence of other notorious variants like Delta in this fourth wave is not known.
Delta is known for its virulence and any mistakes may lead to serious COVID-19 infection. More time is needed in order to come up with informed conclusions.
The long-term effects of the Omicron are not known as research is still on-going.

It is, thus imperative for all of us to avoid contracting the virus.

This calls for strict adherence to public health measures like masking up, observance of social distancing, hand-washing or sanitisation and vaccination.

Many people are refusing to be tested for COVID-19 hence they are no longer adhering to public health measures.

There is general laxity on many aspects of COVID-19 control and the following are harrowing factors:

Many people are gloating about having been tested and some of them have a whole profusion of reasons against getting COVID-19 tests.
This is the same with vaccination where many people have snubbed the free exercise.
Many people are self-prescribing drugs yet some of the drugs may be contraindicated in some conditions.
People with comorbidities like diabetes mellitus, hypertension, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease should be treated as special cases because of the high risk of complications associated with such conditions.
Those who test positive are roaming the streets spreading the virus to unsuspecting people.
There should be a general sense of consideration for the other person if we are to contain the virus as a nation.
There is general loss of seriousness in enforcing public health measures and gatherings are commonplace with few people heeding public health calls.

We should, therefore, wait a bit before we celebrate the so-called evaporation of COVID-19.

COVID-19 is tricky and can change anytime.

Follow all stipulated measures.

Johannes Marisa is the president of the Medical and Dental Private Practitioners Association of Zimbabwe. He writes here in his personal capacity.