COVID-19: 5th wave creeping closer
THE notorious COVID-19 does not want to disappear from the globe, instead, it is occasionally reappearing through multiple strains that carry a constellation of mutations. The world is currently grappling with BA.4 and BA.5 with some countries now reporting Deltacron while others are reporting the emergence of BA.12. The list is endless and that shows the serious nature of COVID-19.
Basing on previous pandemics, researchers were getting relieved that COVID-19 was on its way out.
The world has been ruthlessly attacked since December 31, 2019 and the fatigue that is gripping people, was seen as marking the end of the dreaded virus. It is unfortunate that South Africa has entered the fifth wave of the pandemic, with many new cases now tormenting the country. The 1918-20 Spanish Flu was a calamity which claimed close to 50 million people when the world population was around 1,8 billion at the time, a figure which is nearly a quarter of the current population. What was to follow was the Asian Flu of 1957-8 which claimed around two million people within two years of its onset, while the Hongkong Flu of 1968-69 took the lives of close to three million people within two years of its outbreak.
COVID-19 has been tormenting us since December 31, 2019, when the first cases were reported to the World Health Organisation from China’s Wuhan province. At first, it seemed funny to talk about the diabolical virus until a point when COVID-19 was one of the most feared viruses in the world. The world adopted extraordinary measures in a bid to mitigate against the spread of the virus. Containment measures were put in place, but the virus is still ravaging the planet 26 months after the first cases were detected. No one knows when exactly the pandemic will end, but there is hope that with robust vaccination programmes, the virulence of COVID-19 will be toned down. Vaccination should be upscaled.
Lately, the United Kingdom has been grappling with both high morbidity and mortality and the country has stopped reporting cases daily and is now doing so twice a week. Fatigue is surely creeping in, but such medical prostration will not be of remedial significance as it can only add to more misery sooner than later. South Africa has been recording quite a higher number of new cases, a likely signal for the fifth wave. Our country has been steadily recording a high number of cases in the past seven days, a likely signal for the emergence of a new wave. Winter has traditionally been associated with many respiratory tract infections, with common cold dominating, asthma attacks, pneumonia which can now be confused with COVID-19 and its corresponding complications. People are reminded to visit their clinicians for testing and treatment. However, due to vaccination, the fifth wave of COVID-19 has turned out to be the least virulent of all the waves so far.
In March 2022, South Africa, Botswana, United Kingdom, Germany detected cases of BA.4 and BA.5, the new mutant viruses that are subtypes of the Omicron virus. Omicron was declared a virus of concern on November 25, 2021, when it was reported in South Africa. The mutant strain has a constellation of mutations with 30 of them sitting on the spike protein alone. The good news is that no major clinical changes have been attributed to the two new subtypes, but these strains should be kept under the radar to ensure we are not caught unawares. It is not over until it is over with COVID-19.
With the threat of the fifth wave, it is wise not to drop guard. Certain measures should be observed religiously if the COVID-19 virus is to be kept in check.
COVID-19 testing should be upscaled at this juncture. Testing should be increased in suspected hotspots so that cases can be detected early if containment is to be achieved. What happens in South Africa and Botswana has a ripple effect on Zimbabwe since we are neighbours.
Robust vaccination should be continued and those who have not received booster shots should do so in order to keep the body well protected. Only 26% of the population has been vaccinated, with 5% of them having received a booster shot. Herd immunity needs at least 60% of the population to be vaccinated. Vaccination has been shown to reduce morbidity, hospitalisation and mortality.