Go early, go hard
There is rhyme and reason in the warning of the OCTA Research group against the deadly Delta variant of the coronavirus.
The threat is real. If we don’t watch out, we could soon find ourselves in the shoes of Indonesia and India, who have fallen prey to the surge of the pandemic’s newest, virulent strain.
Even those who have been vaccinated, claims OCTA fellow Prof. Ranjit Rye, could still get infected. He advised against engaging in social gatherings, dining out in restaurants and holding mass gatherings.
“There is a high possibility that you will get infected, especially if you are not vaccinated,” he said.
The expert urged the government to consider imposing “circuit-breaking lockdowns” to stem the rising number of infections, now that Metro Manila is “officially in a surge” as average number of cases rose to almost 1,000.
Just as Metro Manila and some other areas are starting to enjoy the benefits of more relaxed quarantine restrictions, the Delta variant threat comes as a damper to many Filipinos who were already thinking of going to beaches and other local tourist destinations they did not enjoy last summer.
It’s as if we have to postpone once again such dreams and focus anew on containing the new coronavirus threat, even if a small percentage of the population have been vaccinated.
The allimportant vaccines are just starting to arrive and the hoped-for herd immunity is still hard to come by.
The group, knowing how contagious the new strain is, is encouraging the public to intensify further their compliance to the minimum public health standards.
“We can solve this problem with a combination of lockdowns, expanded testing (and) contact tracing, and of course the continuation of our vaccination program,” Rye said.
The OCTA fellow noted that countries who were able to mitigate the spread of the Delta variant have employed a “go early, go hard” approach.
He cited the case of New Zealand, which has one of the lowest caseloads of the disease. They were able to prevent the spread of the pandemic in its early stage. India and Indonesia could have taken a cue from the Kiwis and should have gone for it early and hard.
Rye said we should take the India and Indonesia examples to heart. We can’t afford a surge of the magnitude that sent the two countries to their knees.
The group is recommending that this early, the Philippines should already be tightening the screws so to speak to prevent the spread of the dreaded variant.
We cannot afford to dilly-dally. Rye said we probably have a one-month window to take the necessary steps to stem the Delta surge.
“If we have to calibrate up to severe lockdowns just to get the infections down, so be it,” Rye said, referring to the enhanced community quarantines that greatly tided us over at the onset of the pandemic last year.
“When the cases were still low, they imposed restrictions. That’s what we’re saying here at OCTA,” he added.
Maybe, the Inter-Agency Task Force should take a long, hard look at the OCTA recommendation. We cannot just sit down and wait till the infections have spread before acting on it. The price to pay is simply too stiff.
“Go early, go hard” looks like a good battle cry in finally putting an end to the health menace. Martial arts artists and even weightlifters like Hidilyn Diaz know this only too well. It’s as Rye said — a circuit breaker that would save us a lot of headaches later on.
Let’s all do our share if we want to tread anew the long, arduous path to national recovery.
“If we have to calibrate up to severe lockdowns just to get the infections down, so be it.
“Delta variant threat comes as a damper to many Filipinos who were already thinking of going to beaches and other local tourist destinations they did not enjoy last summer.