- Now this bit of news will have to be taken in with more than a pinch of salt as the global community was finally heaving a sigh of relief from the mauling received by the dreaded virus over the last 18 months or so. When everything appeared returning to a semblance of normalcy around the world, a new novel coronavirus Covid-19 variant was detected in three countries viz., South Africa, Botswana, and Hong Kong have come as a bolt from the blue. The pandemic-induced restrictions have severely crippled the economies of every country is stating the obvious.
PC: Faith Singer
- A gradual revert to picking up the pieces of survival and existence will be tested yet again as the lurking dangers of the virus appears to be going nowhere. The World Health Organization (WHO) has already categorized the variant, named Omicron, as a concern sending the fragile markets into a frenzy what with Sensex nosediving spectacularly. How exactly the new variant is expected to behave is quite unknown as the scientific and medical fraternity frantically initiates moves to further decode the virus’s behavior. As we are aware, many of the European and Western countries are in the grip of fourth and fifth waves wherein confirmed infection rates are scaling never seen before heights.
- Some of the countries like the USA, UK, Russia, and Germany are reeling as severe waves striking incessantly have rendered them fragile and vulnerable. Against this backdrop, what could be the possible repercussions and subsequent plan of action that should be adopted by the Indian government and citizens to thwart the new variant from overwhelming the country? We all have witnessed the devastating second Covid wave which brought the entire country to its knees from April to June. As such, no sooner than the news about the new variant was announced, the Union Government headed by the Prime Minister himself sprang into action by holding meetings with the health authorities and the experts to chalk out immediate measures to tackle the menace.
PC: Liz Mathew
- Once bitten twice shy goes the maxim. No wonder, the Union Government does not wish to take any chances this time around. Of course, there exists no better remedy than to aggressively go about ensuring vaccination drive eventually reaches all its intended beneficiaries now that the supply-side issue of the availability stands addressed adequately. Most disappointingly, there are more than 12 crore adults overdue to receive their second dose despite the authorities exhorting full throttle to shed complacency and sheer neglect shown by the citizens. Mind you, full vaccination does not guarantee 100% protection from the virus striking us but protects us from severity leading to hospitalization.
- Also, there is no escaping yet from observing standard health and safety protocols like wearing personal masks, maintaining social distancing, and handwashing. There is no way we can avoid newer variants from striking us. However, observing precautions and protocols would go a long way in minimizing the dangers like hospitalization and fatality rates. As such, let us join hands with the authorities to safely cross the hurdle staring ahead of us.
