Covid not going away soon: stay safe to stay alive
As we are faced with a pandemic which is showing little or no signs of regression, Bangladesh -- like other countries -- is preparing for a long coexistence with the unseen menace called SARS-CoV-2.
As the virus started its journey from China's Wuhan one and a half years ago, we were initially complacent, assuming that it will never invade our boundaries. It took us three months to realise that the reality did not match our expectations.
However, despite facing three waves and losing numerous friends and family members it seems that many of us are still complacent.
When the bolt struck us from the blue for the first time last year, like others on this planet we also thought that the answer was lockdown. We started to believe that if we keep ourselves indoors for two weeks or at best a few more that will see the end of the Covid transmission.
The next hope was vaccine. We began to see a ray of hope at the end of the not so long tunnel, as we eagerly followed the race between multinationals in multiple countries.
The vaccine ultimately did come. But it's now evident that currently, there is an inadequate quantity of vaccines to inoculate sufficient number of people all over the world, in order to achieve herd immunity and finally bid farewell to this nasty guest.
Many of us are still not proactive. Many still believe that this is a "disease of affluent city dwellers" and will not cause any casualty in the villages. This impression, however, changed dramatically after we experienced Covid's delta variant, which is now ravaging the globe. Now, finally we know that none is immune, none will be spared and although the ultimate target is mass vaccination, that won't be easily achievable.
So, as we now prepare for the "newer normal", our only option is to be extra cautious till 80 percent of our population are vaccinated. How do we do that? We must adapt to health measures -- namely, wearing masks properly, washing hands frequently, avoiding going out unless absolutely necessary, and maintaining physical distancing. These are the only practices that can keep us going to witness better days.
The writer is head of Interventional Hepatology Division at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and member secretary, Samprittee Bangladesh.
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