SA has been put in check
THE devastating and tragic scenes from India, flashing on television screens across the world, is a horrific reminder that planet earth is still under siege from a malicious and deadly virus.
In this a modern-day catastrophe, India is reeling with a second wave of the Covid-19 virus that is decimating the country.
As the second-most populous country in the world, with overcrowded living conditions and an almost insurmountable capacity to maintain the suggested protocols for mitigation and containment of the virus, India has become the new epicentre with horrific consequences.
The lack of hospital beds, sufficient oxygen and oxygen tanks, ventilators and medication means that many will succumb even before they leave the starting blocks.
Blame will be apportioned to the Modi government, but the reality is that despite all efforts to contain the virus, many factors have contributed to this sudden surge.
Political rallies, religious gatherings, overcrowded living conditions, and more, have accentuated the spread. And a mutant variation of the virus has been found, which means it will take a Herculean effort to save lives before the peak is reached.
The possibility of further mutations emerging even more virulent and deadlier than the last cannot be discounted anywhere in the world.
The official figures released do not tell the full tale as many are dying at home and are immediately cremated in make-shift pyres without being recorded as Covid-related deaths.
Many countries over the last year have seen peaks and troughs as the virus changes course every so often, complicating the work of medical scientists to find an antidote that is workable.
The vaccines developed so far have been a topic of controversy, and in any event, their efficacy and safety can only be measured months from now.
This is due to it being difficult to conduct proper trials with measurable parameters to reach conclusions that may aid in the curbing of the pandemic.
There is no plausible data to confirm that those already vaccinated will not re-infect, and if they do, what the exact trajectory of the virus will be. South Africa has been put in check. With people disregarding the non-medical interventions daily, there is a grave risk that we may yet encounter another wave as deadly, if not greater than the last and with an ailing health-care system, we may be in for a tragedy ourselves.
It is a difficult situation for all governments in that lockdowns have become frustrating.
Economies have to move on and there is a delicate balance that could be tipped over in an instant, leading to greater mayhem and chaos.
We may be a miniature version of India, but the propensity of the virus to strike and spread cannot be ignored and our government must be on constant alert, or else we, too, will mimic the catastrophe on the subcontinent.
We must err on the side of caution – we have no choice.
NARENDH GANESH
Durban