Be on your guard for Covid-19’s return

CHRISTMAS – and the end of the year – can’t come quickly enough for most South Africans. This has been a year of challenges, to put it politely.

The spiralling cost of living has not been made any easier by the whiplash roller-coaster ride of fuel prices, which keep breaking records in all the wrong ways, while Eskom remains a Greek tragedy – classical and modern interpretations. Water provision in some of our northern metropolitan municipalities is becoming a crisis all of its own as infrastructure begins to fail.

If that wasn’t bad enough, next month’s ANC elective conference could well set the scene for even more instability, especially since scores of its own branches are not in a position to nominate candidates.

And then there’s Covid. Not content with ruining the festive season since 2020, we have the spectre of another wave hanging over us. A spike has been observed in four of South Africa’s nine provinces, just as we enter the final straight of matric exams and the school year, before the usual lemming-like rush for the coast.

It’s not a concern yet – which is what people said about Wuhan until it did become a concern and closed down the world. We can’t solve Eskom, water reticulation, the ANC elective conference or world peace, but we can do something about getting Covid.

Just because the restrictions have been dropped doesn’t mean we should do the same with our guard. If you’re feeling unwell, don’t infect others – if you have to go out, wear a mask and avoid poorly ventilated areas if possible. Wash your hands, irrespective of how you feel, and be aware of others who might be more at risk – like your parents or grandparents.

Forewarned is forearmed. Maybe we should apply the same common sense at the next general elections too.