A statement by the Medical Chief of Staff, Dr. Cameron Wilkinson
The second wave is firmly upon us or may I say the start of a third wave, as we see cases starting to rise again after the last surge was almost completely flattened.
The rapid rise in numbers may well be associated with the Delta variant and we await further genomic sequencing test results for confirmation.
Some are asking if another lockdown is the answer.
I suspect that some are asking out of concern and others for their own political expediency and not for containing the virus.
A lockdown will certainly destroy livelihoods and squeeze the life out of businesses that have managed to survive the last 18 months of this pandemic.
Getting individuals, communities, businesses and administrators to behave with Covid-19 precautions will produce better results than simply locking down the country with more than 60 percent adults fully vaccinated, only for people to yet emerge with the same reckless behaviour.
When we came out of the last lockdown and the cases started to fall people became complacent.
They acted as if the virus was eliminated and began acting as if we were in the pre-pandemic era.
The pace of vaccination fell drastically and we saw a slow abandonment of the Covid 19 appropriate behaviour.
This gave the virus the opportunity it was awaiting – an additional chance to surge.
The analysis of the recent data shows that the cases are occurring more in the unvaccinated and the young( below 50).
Living with Covid 19 does not mean ignoring the virus!
Three things are important in getting our numbers back down rather than a lockdown.
- We must continue with a laser eye focus on the virus and continue testing, contact tracing and genomic sequencing to identify any new variants.
- We must get as many people vaccinated especially those in essential services and enforce Covid 19 appropriate behaviour.
- We must control the number of persons in mass gatherings and the way they behave at these gatherings both indoors and outdoors. The Covid appropriate behaviour must also continue in the office or at private indoor gatherings away from the eyes of the authorities.
Above all, vaccination is the key and we must get all persons 12 years and over out to be vaccinated.
As cases rise more will be hospitalized and more will die.
The life you save may be your own.
Personal responsibility is key to your survival.
Go out and get vaccinated!