Now's Not Time To Drop Our Guard

Monitor Editor | Monday June 14, 2021 16:37

The week of June 4, 2021, showed that our country had registered a total of 1,014 new cases with the number of those who lost their lives due to COVID-19 at 885. The following report dated June 7, 2021, seemed hopeful in terms of new cases, as only 270 were registered, which indeed is promising that we may ultimately curb the spread.

This pandemic has already claimed a lot of lives, some of who are breadwinners. Sadly, it has left a lot of orphans in its path, with the number of the deceased due to COVID-19 complications standing at 896 (based on a report released on June 7, 2021). It is easy for some people to relax when they see the numbers going down and not follow COVID-19 health protocols. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why our infection rate keeps fluctuating.

Together we can win the fight against COVID-19 by continuing to adhere to all the protocols and not expect anyone to follow us around with a stick. We, as adults are failing children in terms of showing them good behavioural traits. Many Batswana still do not adhere to COVID-19 protocols, and shamelessly try to find ways of making sure they hide from law enforcement officers. COVID-19 regulations were put in place to protect all of us, and not to increase the work of police officers. Many adults still choose to host gatherings, some of whom will even take time to plan an escape to the farms, believing that hosting a session there will be far from the police's reach! Fact, large gatherings increase the chances of COVID-19 spreading like a veld fire, and having a large gathering in the bush far away from officers will not exempt anyone from the probabilities.

There are unconfirmed rumours that school-going children have started taking the spread of the virus as a joke, and intentionally pass the virus along amongst themselves. This could be a sign that we as adults fail time and again to be exemplary to the young ones. If indeed it is true that this is taking place amongst students, something needs to be done urgently, and we need to shout loud for vaccination of teachers to be prioritised. The teaching profession continues to be the hardest hit, yet calls to temporarily close schools and speed up their vaccination seem to be falling on deaf ears. Let's continue to take care of ourselves, the situation does not have to worsen before we start taking the message seriously. Stay on guard!