Covid case numbers are up again and by a significant margin too. Around 1,300 patients are detected daily while the death toll is also up, to around 30-35 daily. While nowhere near the figures experienced in August last year, these are nevertheless alarming numbers, given the fairly high rate of vaccination, at least in terms of the first two doses.
The new wave, if it can be called as such, is driven mainly by the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus, which is said to be less lethal but highly transmissible.
Mercifully, those who have had the vaccine can generally avoid hospitalisation even if they get infected with the Omicron variant. This has reduced the pressure on the hospital and health care system, which is currently facing a strike by certain categories of health workers.
There are several factors that have contributed to the surge in infections. The main reason is that most people are now disregarding the health guidelines, apart from wearing masks. But even that was missing from the faces of many revellers and day trippers who were seen in various corners of the island over the last weekend. Unfortunately, many seem to have forgotten about Covid altogether.
They behaved as if Covid never even existed in the first place. Most people also seem to have given up on frequent hand washing and sanitising.
Public transport seems to be the other main point of concern. With offices in full swing, buses and trains are spilling over in the morning and afternoon rush hours. There is simply no way that one can practice social distancing in a crowded bus or train. It is naturally a hotbed for Covid transmission. It is therefore essential that offices which can practise the Work from Home concept begin to do so again, to avoid a bigger spread of Covid.
In any case, Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila has proposed WFH for a couple of days a week as a solution to the fuel crisis as well. There is no reason why offices should bring in all the staff physically if some employees can work from home just as efficiently. The employees save on the commuting time and offices save on everything from the telephone bills to AC bills. In fact, many companies overseas have now given employees the opportunity of lifetime WFH.
But the biggest factor that can lull us into a false sense of safety is that we are not testing enough. Medical experts as well as Public Health Inspectors have voiced concern that the officially published Covid figures are much less than what the actual case numbers could be.
The true figure could be many times higher. Sri Lanka is one of the few countries where walk-in free testing is not available for people to know whether they have been infected or not. Some random testing is done but it is far from adequate.
Only a certain segment of the population can afford to fork out Rs.2,000 for a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) at a private hospital and a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Test is even more expensive at Rs.6, 500. Nevertheless, there had been a run on RATs last week at Colombo’s private hospitals, with only one having enough stocks.
The Government must immediately ramp up the availability of RATs so that more people can get tested. In this context, State Minister Prof. Channa Jayasumana said that more than 400,000 RAT kits will be imported by next week. But this is hardly enough.
Given the present financial situation, it might not be possible to increase PCR testing, but the authorities must explore the possibility of having walk-in RAT testing sites at easily accessible sites such as sports stadia.
Also, private hospitals and pharmacies should be allowed to import and sell RAT kits to the public at a reasonable price. This way, people can perform the test at home and isolate if they test positive.
The test is easy to do and gives the result in less than 15 minutes. The one advantage of RAT over PCR is that the RAT will generally tell you whether you are infected and infectious right now, whereas PCR can even pick up vestiges of the virus from a past infection when you are no longer contagious. The goal of this exercise is limiting the spread.
In many other developed and even some developing countries, the Governments are providing at least one RAT kit per person free.
The US Government has ordered one billion test kits for the country’s entire population. While the Government might not be able to foot a RAT bill for all households here, it should consider giving the kits free at least to the less privileged segments of the population.
Still, testing can only accomplish so much. Prevention is still the best cure and vaccination is just what the doctor ordered for Covid – literally. Alarmingly, many people, mostly youth, are reluctant to come forward to get the third or booster jab due to various misconceptions and myths spread on social media about the Pfizer vaccine by nefarious elements.
The Government should arrange for an eminent panel of medical specialists and scientists to come on TV to debunk these myths and explain the benefits of the Covid vaccination. As a nation with one of the highest rates of immunisation in the world, this vaccine hesitancy is rather baffling.
It is time for the authorities to clear the air and get the booster into the arms of more people. That will help the Government’s drive to end Covid and restore full normality to every aspect of life and economy.