Constant Vigilance

 We are now in the most dangerous stage of the pandemic. Vaccination is proceeding at one of the fastest rates in the world, and is being efficiently implemented by the armed force and medical personnel. Great effort is being made to reach elderly, disabled, fragile and incapacitated people, with health care workers doing home visits throughout the country. The eligible citizens of the country should be fully vaccinated by October. 

But this momentum is in competition with the increase in transmission, and the Delta strain is showing itself to be faster and more deadly, as well as affecting those of younger ages far more than the original novel coronavirus did in 2020. The threat and the remedy are pitched directly against each other. 

Is it possible in these circumstances for anyone to be ‘safe’? Is it actually realistic to speak of ‘beating the virus’? The virus adapts and changes form expediently, and the variants are more virulent, as we would expect from anything so survivalistic and so opportunistic. 

But human beings are adaptable, too. The numbers of deaths are starting to rise, and amongst these numbers are names of people known to us. If we are reading this, we have held the line in this battle for 18 months, and now we must all consider consciously strengthening our self care practices and increasing our vigilance. 

In exchange for our compliance, these restrictions will ease. This is the new social contract operating in the world in which we live. ‘Democracy and pandemics don’t mix’, a friend of mine told me last week. We were discussing the possibility of fast tracking the quarantine process after vaccination has progressed through the population and the numbers of people getting ill have reduced. The initial processes included a two week stay in mandatory quarantine, including PCR testing at entry and departure, and enforced isolation monitored by security guards. In some countries, people were locked in their rooms in designated quarantine hotels. 

There is a 24 hour quarantine option in Sri Lanka for those who have been double vaccinated, and who have consistently tested negative at all the check points, coming in to the country. ‘Level 1’ hotels in Colombo currently offer a 24 hour stay package including room, PCR test, insurance and transport, for USD 229. These hotels can be booked directly. They need your fully vaccinated status confirmed by vaccine card dated and time stamped, certified negative PCR test results, and visas if you are not a citizen of the country. 

Initially, before the numbers of cases increased, and the hospitals became unable to take more patients, people were sent to quarantine centres. Now as the situation has become more intense, people are being encouraged and incentivized to self monitor their symptoms and stay at home. It is possible to call health care personnel for medical advice via telephone numbers on dedicated lines. We can buy basic medical equipment like blood pressure machines and pulse oximeters to track our condition at home. 

We can order our groceries home delivered from our local supermarket. We can ring through or WhatsApp our chemists and food outlets and make our requests for the items we need, and collect them, delivered to our car door, to minimise transmission via the air conditioning in the store or restaurant. 

Even after double vaccination, with 3-5 weeks between doses, booster shots may be needed. But the most important thing to note is that a multi-layered approach is now necessary on a daily basis. 

Plastic gloves, hand sanitizer, strict hygiene procedures and disinfection of surfaces in the home, wearing masks even within the house, putting on face shields as well as gloves when going out in public. Changing clothes immediately when we come home from outside. Soap and water and Dettol hand wash several times a day. Making sure our household sheets and towels are washed regularly. Making sure we bathe daily to keep our bodies as clean as possible, and less prone to infection. Eating fresh, home made food with high nutritional value. Drinking a lot of clean water every day. Ensuring we have vitamins C, and D daily. Taking immediate action if any health issue arises, however small. Practising personal vigilance. 

Instead of passively waiting to be told when and if lockdown will be brought in, at this juncture people need to proactively protect their families and each other by putting themselves into voluntary isolation, and fully supporting themselves throughout the process without panic or self pity, and in as realistic and sustainable a way as possible. Lockdown as a country is not going to be possible for daily wage earners, who form a large part of the workforce. 

Consistency is the key. What we do every day will save us, and serve us well. Vaccination must be added to. Think vaccine plus hygiene plus social distancing plus avoidance of contact with anyone outside the circle of immunity we create at home. For the next few years, a month at a time, a day or week envisioned at a time, if the prospect of years is too daunting. 

Working online where possible, keeping in touch via telephone, and being able to see each other’s faces via video enabled apps like Messenger and WhatsApp and Skype and Zoom; participating in group discussions via Clubhouse and audio podcasts. Scheduling calls with those dear to us. Encouraging each other. 

This is the turning point. We can either extend our suffering, or take conscious steps to end it, and exit into a cleaner and clearer world. It’s our individual choice. Multiplied by 22 million.