United we must stand
THE permanent secretary for Health and Medical Services Dr James Fong raised an important issue the other day. He said being young does not mean you cannot get COVID-19.
He made the comment during an update on the outbreak on Thursday where he also announced seven people were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit in hospital because of severe impacts of the virus.
“There is a young woman in the ICU right now suffering from a severe case of COVID-19,” Dr Fong said.
“She’s 30 years old. Don’t think being young makes you immune.
“The highly contagious Delta variant present in Fiji has been described as the ‘fittest and the fastest’ variant in the world.
“Don’t trifle with it. Anyone can be seriously impacted by this virus – and this variant.”
As a company, we at the Fiji Times know how contagious this virus can be, and the negative impact it can have on the minds of primary and secondary contacts.
This isn’t the time to be living dangerously. We’ve said this many times.
We’ve made it a point to harp on about the pandemic, how fast it can stretch its tentacles, and the impact it can have on society.
We have talked about why we should all be proactive. We’ve discussed why we should be vigilant and why it is important that we understand the virus and how it can spread.
This unseen enemy creeps about like a ghost in the night.
It rides on carriers, and spreads like wildfire when we move about in crowded places.
In saying that though, we will have to look up to the powers that be to make tough calls.
We have said this before, and we continue to raise this issue.
What we see before us is something that is evidently going out of control. Given the incubation period of the virus, and the impact on primary and secondary contacts, we expect high numbers anyway now.
Whatever the explanations are on lockdowns, Fijians will no doubt be keen to understand better how we are faring, and how we plan to fight this, with a given timeline.
As individuals, we are duty bound to adhere strictly to every COVID-19 safety protocol.
We have to listen to expert health advice and be part of the war against the virus.
Dr Fong has been telling us we are at war.
The unfortunate bit is that there are still some Fijians who are not fronting up to be part of this war against the virus.
They insist this is all a lie. They insist this is part of a conspiracy theory.
But global figures are difficult to shrug aside.
The number of deaths around the world is actually intimidating and hard to sweep under the carpet.
Again, we refer to the powers that be to front up and take control of what is happening right now.
It is encouraging to see better communication coming through now as opposed to the haphazard dissemination of vital information, sometimes very late at night. Our numbers are going through the roof now.
We must unite against this virus. Together Fiji! United we must stand!