Vaccinate and save lives
We are not sure about the Olympics Gold medal, but the way things are progressing in Fiji with relation to COVID-19, we sure are on track for creating a world record in COVID positive cases.
We have been quite consistent hitting threedigit numbers daily from June
18 and yesterday was a record, 636 cases.
Our test positivity has risen to a whopping
11.9% and continues on an upward trend
– much higher than the World Health Organisation rate of 5% which indicates the virus is out of control.
433 cases per million population per day was recorded as of Monday July 5 with data from yesterday suggesting this would be much higher once confirmed.
To put this into perspective, we have surpassed what India was recording during the peak of their outbreak. We are well on track to reach the UK’s record.
So well done Fiji! Not.
We still have people calling for lockdowns in order to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
But from day one we have been hearing Dr Fong saying “stay home – save lives”. Yet we still have daily cases of people breaching curfew restrictions.
So what guarantee is there that people will not find ways of leaving their homes to socialise? There’s none.
It’s up to us to stay home and restrict movement. We should not have this IMPOSED upon us, but rather something we should adhere to on our own if we are to protect ourselves and our loved ones.
Yes businesses are opening up slowly – we cannot have them shut forever. It’s not a matter of businesses making money. They will be barely making any money with all the restrictions.
It is about the livelihoods of people – poor and rich. The poor cannot afford to keep staying home without employment – that too with hardly it being their own fault.
The Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus is highly transmissible – easily spread and we cannot take it as a joke. Neither can we blame someone who catches it because they don’t even know how they contracted it in the first place.
And this is why we need people to wear their masks, maintain their distance and to vaccinate.
Other countries have demonstrated that vaccination is the only way out of this. Things are returning to normalcy in the USA after almost a year of chaos. And that is because of the vaccination roll-out.
Numbers in India are dropping now – because of the massive vaccination campaign.
We also have a massive vaccination roll-out ongoing but the resistance from some members of the community is making things harder.
Our numbers will continue to grow if we do not achieve herd immunity.
The vulnerable in our society will continue to die daily if we do not vaccinate the eligible population.
It’s everyone’s responsibility to play their part – vaccinate and save lives. There is no other option left for us. RACHNA LAL
Feedback: rachna.lal@fijisun.com.fj