After a bleak Festive Season the beginning of February brought some Covid relief.
- The numbers of new infections, hospital admissions and deaths were down;
- The country begun emerging from its “Second Wave” lockdown, with the partial easing of restrictions; and
- The first batch of vaccinations landed in the country from India.
There is reason to hope that the worst pain is behind us.
But the virus will not magically disappear. If we don’t behave sensibly now, it could come back even stronger.
Although the numbers are down, there are still thousands of South Africans carrying and potentially spreading the virus. Getting the vaccine to enough of our people to close down the space for its continued spread is going to take considerable time.
In the meantime, if we stop wearing our masks, washing our hands, and practicing sensible social distancing – and opening windows when we must be in close proximity to others, such as in taxis – the next wave could be even worse.
There is still much that we don’t know about this invisible enemy, such as whether more new variants lie ahead.
But we do know that sensible behavior is the best defence we have to mitigate the need for further agony and lockdowns.
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