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WE WANT GOODBYE WAVE

03/12/2020 06:57:00 BY CHRIS MORGAN

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We start by wishing the prime minister a speedy recovery from his dose of COVID-19. Everyone’s fed up with this coronavirus and what it’s caused. Fear has receded somewhat on the strength of the evident progress made in Eswatini and the end of the national emergency. But the crisis will not be over until there is a vaccine available. ‘Keep your distance’ is now an impassioned appeal and no longer the derogatory instruction it once was. Mask up and keep up the vigorous walking and jogging to strengthen the immune system.

And always having a wary eye open in case another wave is round the corner. The chances of that happening are less likely than in the heavily populated countries of the world but normal predictions are something of the past. We’ve had to accept a recent arrival – ‘new normal’. And let’s not forget that it has not yet been conclusively explained to the world by anyone entirely trustworthy how the COVID-19 coronavirus actually arose. We need the results from that WHO-led investigation. Until then we can’t be confident about future preventive measures. And we certainly don’t want to continue with masks on, and bumping fists and elbows for the rest of our lives.

Apart from a chilling understanding of the dreadful impact of the Spanish Flu 100 years ago, COVID-19 is also giving us a perception of what our ancestors went through in the two world wars. The threat of death and destruction of homes, food shortages and other hardships, both during and after the wars, and not knowing when it would end. And that was nothing compared with what the soldiers went through. I suspect people were mentally tougher in those days. Perhaps the absence of telecommunications, which we enjoy in the modern era, spared them the facts and figures, the divisive views and speculations. But was ignorance bliss? They also had to deal with the unequal degree of deprivation and damage. Men and women went to war, lost their lives or got badly injured while others stayed at home, some profiting enormously from it. A watered down version exists during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wave

The vicious second wave of the Spanish Flu has suggested to many that the second wave of COVID-19, experienced in the northern hemisphere, is a natural characteristic of a severe viral pandemic. But no; the Spanish Flu second wave arose when soldiers returned with it to their home cities. With COVID-19 there is yet no explanation, though it appears that in many countries there was an increasing number abandoning social distancing rules and dropping their masks. Likewise here in Eswatini? We hope not.

Reversing the ban on sale of alcohol was a welcome decision for many. Overall it’s good to see government’s common sense shining through. There can surely have been nothing more painful than accepting the loss of all the tax revenue in order to stop people drinking alcohol, only to see the extensive illegal consumption and, of course, still no tax!

I believe that a post-COVID 19 evaluation of how the world dealt with it will reveal an over-reaction in the length of time for which children were kept out of school. Understandable in the early days but once the very low incidence and severity of infection, and tiny mortality rate, of under-18s became known, schools should have opened. With masks and social distancing, plus sanitising of desks and other materials, they would have been well protected.

Infectious

There is still no unanimous view, but it is widely and authoritatively stated that not only are youngsters more lightly infected than adults but are also less infectious. That would be of huge significance. In the meantime there has been a large increase in teenage pregnancies, emergence of bad habits through boredom and lack of supervision, and many children not even having access to online schooling; missing almost a year of their education. The planned reopening of schools in January 2021, should be set in stone.

It is always said a little deprivation is needed to generate more appreciation. We’re getting a taste of that and, just like wartime, life goes on and achieves a new-normal. But there won’t be safety from this virus – and that spells continuing danger for vulnerable groups – until the vaccine arrives. Affluent countries will start vaccinating early 2021, while despite public assurances the poor countries face uncertainty.

But at least one vaccine can be transported and stored at standard refridgeration temperatures. So that’s promising. And on another positive note, we always feared that our malnourished children – over 25 per cent of under-5s – would be hard hit. What a relief, it simply isn’t happening. May that continue until the economy and social services have grown to where there are no malnourished children at all in this country.