With the advent of 2020 came a lot of welcoming gestures. Peoples went praying to whatever they believed in their various religions and irreligion.
They topped it up with wearing their brand new clothes, eating their favourite dishes and imbibing their choice drinks.
There was great hope that the year 2020 would be better than the, then, outgoing 2019. Unknown to them, a scourge was looming ahead on the horizon:
COVID 19!
Saying the virus has been the defining factor of 2020 is definitely an understatement.
The virus was believed to have made its appearance in the ‘wet market’ of Wuhan, China. Wild animals are sold in the wet market for human consumption.
It was later alleged that the virus came as a result of the introduction of 5G communication technology.
As at the beginning of April 21, 2020 here are the results of the impact of COVID 19 on the world.Cases are 2,481,287. Deaths are 170, 436 and those who have recovered are 646,854.
The unfortunate thing is that the plague is yet to stop. More unfortunate is the fact that, according to sources, it will take between 12 and 18 months to normally get a vaccine into the markets.
However, due to the urgency, a vaccine could be ready for use in 3 months. But those who know might understand that it could be dangerous.
Meanwhile, those countries who really do respect their citizens have legislated that, save for the production of essential commodities, people should be indoors under a lockdown program.
They didn’t stop at that, they are providing palliatives for their citizens.
Your guess is as good as mine when it comes to other countries. A person has described their situation as putting leashes on dogs while starving the poor animals.
But then, an essential part of human civilization is freedom of movement. This can’t be overemphasized when one looks at countries in the temperate regions. There, sunlight is a luxury which they enjoy for a brief period during summer.
For those countries that happen to be in the tropics, the case is just a little bit better. Sadly, most of those countries happen to lack any semblance of respect for their citizens. So, they actually use the excuse of poverty not to offer some palliatives to their citizens.
But then, I would think 12 months of social, economic and even religious inactivity is pretty long. Even for those nations offering some palliatives, they can only do so much. That’s because if people don’t work, they shouldn’t be expected to pay taxes.Apart from that, other sources of revenue for governments might be jeopardized for obvious reasons.
I very much believe we should start thinking outside the box and stop this waiting game.
In the first instance, let’s continue with our personal hygiene. Second, we should continue with social distancing until vaccines to end the virus are perfected.
Let’s equip the local health centers with equipment to ascertain people who have been infected. Those infected should then be taken to isolation centers.
We could also do with some fumigation!
Since I’m not a medical personnel, I believe those concerned should be able to dot my ‘i’s and cross my ‘t’s.
But I feel we’re already getting stale at home!
By the way, something keeps telling me that a solution might come from herbs in Africa!!
042020
