#STORIESFORHEALTH

TO WANT A VIRUS

When corona virus appeared, many of us were quick to spread all the information we could come across about it to our social media platforms, whether it was because of the new exciting fear the pandemic brought or not, at least we cared enough to have it occupy every facet of our communication making every one aware. Unfortunately majority of the information that was out there was inaccurate and compiled by regular people who had survived terrible flu and common cold. We had photos going around showing a silhouette of a man drinking water and the explanation behind it was that hot lemon water destroyed the virus at the throat before reaching the lungs. It is in no doubt that without the help of health workers, all of us lack the appropriate knowledge for guidance around this new virus.

As we live today under this new normal, there are other arising issues in our societies that had to be addressed. These have always been around but they became more exposed by the situation at hand. We saw police brutality take a new high, more access to R rated sites and domestic violence was on the rise, not surprising considering everything came to a halt including the very economy that holds our livelihood, begging the question; at what point does a pandemic end? Were we wrong to declare lockdown at the beginning when there were fewer cases? Are we making the right choice by opening up everything when deaths and infections are now at multiples of hundreds of thousands? Should we race through it? What would happen if we raced through this pandemic?

If we are bored of the new normal and decide to race through the pandemic, going on with our normal lives, allowing the virus to spread to the maximum to the point where it will die down due to the lack of new host, will we be in a better place? What are the chances of re infection for those who recover from the virus and what will happen to our population?Human life is sacred, furthermore in an attempt to race through the pandemic we might have a worse of economic situation due to the crumbling down of healthcare, facilities will reach peak capacity and there will be more death of both essential and non essential labor force in an attempt to obtain treatment which will be impossible.

Though the above is not the case we see today, it wouldn’t be surprising if it happened because of the lack of care with which we handle the virus, a promise of a vaccine has potential of making people underestimate the ability of the virus to wipe an entire generation out.Most of what I have observed which had me raising the question was what I saw around me. The need for a daily bread cannot be overlooked no matter what monster of a disease is out there. Most of Sub-Saharan Africa doesn’t have monetary capacity to cushion its people hence there is need for individual survival. Pay cuts which were necessary made the situation worse and it is due to these that trying to starve the virus of hosts by putting up restrictions wouldn’t work.

Another factor was the behavioral nature of human beings. We saw certain opinions across the globe that termed these restrictions as slavery, wearing a mask seemed exhaustive and staying inside felt like arrests. The virus didn’t seem real in other people’s opinion but it continued to spread even in high offices. There seemed to be an ignorance on the fact that treatment of new infections, while it delayed the severity of the illness in an individual and had potential of saving that life, is costly and also delays the medical research put towards the virus. There is need for societal reforms and individuals to make better choices. Thinking about the future of the world, a better place for our children is paramount. The research should strictly be globally coordinated.Adapting to the presence of a pandemic isn’t enough by itself; we should also put our money in the vaccine account. If we succeed in obtaining a vaccine we should not assume success because of expenses, human carelessness, possibility of a stronger mutation, we should ask ourselves as individual, if we can afford a vaccine for difficult viruses like the small pox, why does the common cold still bother us? Then we can take COVID-19 which is closer to both more seriously.

We need to handle ourselves more seriously, assume the person next to you has it, assume you have it and protect your loved ones and neighbors. Regard yourself as a soldier in the fight against the pandemic creating a better future. After reaching your home in the evening, before you take off your mask throwing it on the table, ask yourself if it has the virus and how long the virus will last on that surface before a loved one touches it. You might have an immunity that helps you recover from it, for all we know, no one can tell if someone got the virus, recovered and assumed it was the common cold. Whether it is our preference or not, the virus will affect all of us regardless of class, tribe, color or culture, we will have to handle it eventually and we will wish we handled it earlier.

SANITIZE & SOCIAL DISTANCE