Death will come for us all, yes, but our history reminds us that one precious life lost on this soil is one too many. And that none should be lost unless we, collectively, cannot avoid it. That we should lose another life to Covid-19, as we did last Tuesday 27th, is an indictment on us. We may pump our chests that we are only in tens of deaths while some countries with ocean-differences of wealth are losing hundreds of thousands but it’s no reason to be off guard. We must guard against falling victim to ‘Covid-fatigue’. ‘Covid-fatigue’ in the sense that we think we’ve so faithfully followed government guidelines that corona-positive cases are showing up in only low single digits and dwindling towards nought. That if at all there is a corona death, it’s as a combination of other already existing complications. Or that big numbers are confined to refugee camps. This ignores the fact that whoever resides on this soil is our responsibility. Citizen, resident or visiting foreigner, their lives capture the conscience of our leadership, as our community’s. So we all cringe when we see in the back streets and semi-rural areas careless people crowding together without the least thought to masks, personal and social distancing. Who simply ceremoniously give the hand-washing and general hygiene stations made available everywhere by government and commercial places a distracted touch, if not completely ignore them. The only positive: there is nothing too slight about temperature checks. And if too high, alarm bells will see spaceship-like-suited corona-chasers literally materialise from space – no pun! As for our ever disciplined and untiringly vigilant police force, those are in a class of their own. Not even the Guinness Book of World Rerecords is worthy of their name on its list of world bests. But for them, we wouldn’t be as near-intact as we are. But then again, they can’t be everywhere. Local authorities in charge of enforcing the procedures to supplement them seem to think the corona threat is good and gone. In fact, in some places they seem to have gone on holiday. Their in-charges, please, rouse those undisciplined discipline-watchdogs out of their slumber! Because knowing the discipline of our own populace as we do, we know that the sight of them alone will bend them (populace) towards remembering that Covid-19 is still a livewire. Bar-owners will remember that they are not allowed to open, nor to operate behind barricaded fencing, nor to pretend to be restaurants. Important to check out also, some hotels have become exclusive bars, under the guise of catering for travellers. With all strategy-enforcers in action, in a jiffy the populace will change and revert to their former cautious tread. However, when all is said and done and we look at this laxity some have adopted, do we ever pause to think of the massive costs the whole containment of this pandemic has meant for the government? Costs that we must wonder how it meets, with hardly any taxes, trade, tourism, travel, investment; hardly any source of revenue at all, generally. And without any country or organization able to part with a loan that we can confidently take, knowing that, true to form, we’ll faithfully and promptly repay to the last dime. And, come to think of it, without any country able to afford us those loudly touted foreign hand-outs, even if we’ve sworn to wean ourselves off them! All of which should prompt us to sober up, sit up and remember our focus. For, before this coronavirus exploded upon us and put paid to our ambitions, our focus was a fast-paced, single-minded journey towards the high table, among the respectable nations of this globe. Our guiding clarion call? If they can attain the seat, human as we are, then yes, we can. That was our covenant and it must post-haste stay the course, disruption notwithstanding. All that apart, we of course know that there is no cause for alarm. Informed by the lightning reaction of our leadership the moment the name Wuhan, China, was mentioned in connection with this pandemic, we know we are in 24/7-guard-care hands. We know that before we knew it and when countries with the best means of information were still dilly-dallying, we were observing all the hygiene recommended to this day. When the first foreign-based infected arrival expired, we immediately entered into total lockdown. The views expressed in this article are of the writer.
