Waltzing with the virus

Saturday 28th August, 2021

The extension of the countrywide lockdown until 06 Sept. came as no surprise. There was no alternative. The daily count of infections is edging up, and so is the death toll, which has crossed 200. However, it is too early to gauge the impact of the ongoing lockdown on the spread of the pandemic and the fatality rate. What we are currently reaping is what we sowed collectively before the commencement of the lockdown. Whether we have at least behaved responsibly while the country is closed will be seen in a few days when the infection and fatality figures are announced. The costly preventive measures currently in place to curb the runaway transmission of the virus will yield the desired results only if the quarantine curfew is strictly enforced, but lockdowns and curfews cannot go on indefinitely.

What is gained during lockdowns by way of pandemic control is lost in next to no time when the country is reopened. The virus makes a comeback, causing infections and fatalities to rise, and necessitating another lockdown. This has been our experience, but, sadly, lessons have gone unlearnt.

The triumph of the virus has been mostly due to lack of public cooperation with the health authorities to contain it. The government has botched up its pandemic prevention programme save its vaccination drive, which is impressive. The announcement of the current lockdown, last Friday, itself gave a turbo boost to the transmission of the virus; the moment it was made, people threw caution to the wind and started stocking up. There was a buying frenzy. The government also does not look serious about having the quarantine curfew enforced strictly if the sheer number of people and vehicles on roads is any indication. The quarantine laws have apparently gone the same way as the ban on walking on railroads. But the people cannot lay the blame for the ever worsening health crisis solely at the government’s door while they themselves are flouting the quarantine laws with gay abandon, and waltzing with the virus.

Sate Minister Dr. Sudarshani Fernandopulle—who would have been the current Health Minister if she had dropped out of school, instead of studying hard to become a medical specialist, taken to politics earlier in life, and mastered the art of bootlicking—has told the people a home truth whether or not they are in the mood for a blast of harsh reality. She has said the lockdown will not yield the desired results unless the public resolves to abide by the health regulations and acts accordingly. If the people care to cover their mouths and noses, maintain physical distancing, wash or sanitise their hands regularly and avoid crowds, with the government ramping up the vaccination drive, there will be no need to close the country, from time to time, at an enormous socio-economic cost.

Meanwhile, some health sector trade unions have accused the government of having reduced Covid-19 testing drastically during the lockdown. The task of controlling the pandemic cannot be accomplished without reliable data, and this is why testing has to be stepped up while the country is closed so that health experts could get a clear picture of the situation. The state-run health institutions are capable of conducting as many as 100,000 tests a day, we are told. Why the Health Department does not move at full throttle to do so defies comprehension. Or, at least, the Rapid Antigen Test kits must be made available freely like pulse-oximeters, glucometers, etc., for home testing, as in other countries

Unless we redouble our efforts, as one, to beat the virus while the country is closed, the costly lockdown will end up being as futile as a ceasefire with a terrorist group.