I read a Bloomberg feature about the Covid-19 disaster that is India. There are some lessons Cebu leaders could learn there that they could apply to our handling of the pandemic. The first is of course the danger of suddenly loosening up after the lockdowns effectively prevented another surge in infections. More so because our vaccination effort is so slow we still are far from achieving herd immunity even as coronavirus variants are threatening our shores. We do have a lockdown fatigue and are wanting to restore a devastated economy, but what else can we do? We seem to have forgotten how we were drawn into this pandemic in the first place.
The threat now is the Delta variant of the coronavirus and Cebu is very vulnerable being at the center of the archipelago. Strict border control is needed because once the Delta variant enters our shores, local infection would be difficult to control. In India, superspreader events preceded a second surge in infection. India even boasted of its capacity to prevent the spread of the virus early on. A similar mood is infecting us and our leaders.
We are even proud of coming up with less stringent protocols than the ones imposed by the Inter-Agency Task Force, or IATF, on the nation. I remember a lesson that my mentor in the past kept reminding us as we roamed the mountains: “One false move loses the whole game.” We must always be wary, therefore, of that one false move. Do not forget what happened in the past, when a Chinese national brought in the virus that was first detected in Wuhan. That one virus multiplied fast and the entire country was affected.
Two superspreader events were mentioned in the Bloomberg article, the elections and the annual Khumb Mela event. In those events, health protocols were jettisoned and widespread infections happened. It was too late to put the brakes and the health system was overwhelmed. Note that India could produce its own vaccine. The country is thus forced to use the vaccine for its own consumption instead of selling them.
Our vaccination effort has been done in spurts because of problematic vaccine supply. There is therefore a need to augment vaccination with gradual reopening of the economy and lockdowns where this is applicable. We must take things slowly because the coronavirus variants are something we could take for granted.
The stories of deaths and infections were illustrated well by the Bloomberg article.The tragedy is unfortunate. In southeast Asia, Indonesia is worried of a second surge. Yet the vaccination effort in that country is better than ours. We can’t be too confident of ourselves. We once complained that military generals are taking the lead against the pandemic. Now, officials of local government units need to heed the suggestions of health professionals.
It is easy to complain about the health protocols but science and medicine should take the lead. The report that the delta variant of the virus may become a problem worldwide should be reason for us to prepare for the worst.