A Nevispages weekly feature by Curtis Morton Sr
The way I see it, things are not looking good for us right now, in terms of the COVID-19 situation.
I certainly was not planning to write on this topic again this week, but because of the trend that this plague is taking, I have to speak on the issue, yet again.
This plague reminds me of a movie I saw once.
So, it had gotten to that part in the movie, where the good guy or the star of the movie, is about to finally face off with the real bad guy and we all are hoping that he will take him out. The bad guy gets in a couple of really hard body blows and the good guy tumbles to the floor, in obvious pain.
Then the good guy musters all the strength he has left and does a fantastic somersault and kicks the bad guy in his head and knocks him clean over. For all intents and purposes, he appears to be dead and the star hugs the star girl and the music plays and the credits appear on the screen and then you see the bad guy in a mental institution, already plotting his next deadly move.
So, we thought that we had this thing under control and we really thought that we would be returning to a near-normal lifestyle by now.
Enter the Delta variant. The bad guy has regained strength, ten times stronger than before.
Well I newa!
Even as I write, I am learning of the closure of our Education Department, due to exposure to the virus via a positive case and further updates indicate a delay to the reopening of our schools, as a direct result. Lots of contacts, resulting from one case
I asked my good friend GOOGLE and this is what I learnt:
• “The Delta variant is more contagious: The Delta variant is highly contagious, more than 2x as contagious as previous variants.
• Some data suggest the Delta variant might cause more severe illness than previous variants in unvaccinated people. In two different studies from Canada and Scotland, patients infected with the Delta variant were more likely to be hospitalized than patients infected with Alpha or the original virus that causes COVID-19. Even so, the vast majority of hospitalization and death caused by COVID-19 are in unvaccinated people.
• Unvaccinated people remain the greatest concern: The greatest risk of transmission is among unvaccinated people who are much more likely to get infected, and therefore transmit the virus. Fully vaccinated people get COVID-19 (known as breakthrough infections) less often than unvaccinated people. People infected with the Delta variant, including fully vaccinated people with symptomatic breakthrough infections, can transmit the virus to others. CDC is continuing to assess data on whether fully vaccinated people with asymptomatic breakthrough infections can transmit the virus.
• Fully vaccinated people with Delta variant breakthrough infections can spread the virus to others. However, vaccinated people appear to spread the virus for a shorter time: For prior variants, lower amounts of viral genetic material were found in samples taken from fully vaccinated people who had breakthrough infections than from unvaccinated people with COVID-19. For people infected with the Delta variant, similar amounts of viral genetic material have been found among both unvaccinated and fully vaccinated people. However, like prior variants, the amount of viral genetic material may go down faster in fully vaccinated people when compared to unvaccinated people. This means fully vaccinated people will likely spread the virus for less time than unvaccinated people.
Vaccines
Vaccines in the US are highly effective, including against the Delta variant
• The COVID-19 vaccines approved or authorized in the United States are highly effective at preventing severe disease and death, including against the Delta variant. But they are not 100% effective, and some fully vaccinated people will become infected (called a breakthrough infection) and experience illness. For all people, the vaccine provides the best protection against serious illness and death.
• Vaccines are playing a crucial role in limiting the spread of the virus and minimizing severe disease. Although vaccines are highly effective, they are not perfect, and there will be vaccine breakthrough infections. Millions of Americans are vaccinated, and that number is growing. This means that even though the risk of breakthrough infections is low, there will be thousands of fully vaccinated people who become infected and able to infect others, especially with the surging spread of the Delta variant. Low vaccination coverage in many communities is driving the current rapid surge in cases involving the Delta variant, which also increases the chances that even more concerning variants could emerge.
• Vaccination is the best way to protect yourself, your family, and your community. High vaccination coverage will reduce the spread of the virus and help prevent new variants from emerging. CDC recommends that everyone aged 12 years and older get vaccinated as soon as possible.”
So, it seems that this bad guy virus is even more deadly than what we had previously and we need to take every precaution and observe the established protocols:
Wash your hands frequently with liquid soap and running water and in the approved manner
Sanitize often when soap and water is not available
Maintain the accepted six feet distance, especially in public places
Avoid crowds
Observe coughing and sneezing etiquette
Wear appropriate masks and PROPERLY!
Be safe in your workplace, churches, supermarkets etc.
Get vaccinated
Now one of the questions that I was asked this week is: ‘Who qualifies as a contact of a sick person?’
My sources indicate the following:
“For COVID-19, a close contact is anyone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for a total of 15 minutes or more. An infected person can spread COVID-19 starting from 48 hours (or 2 days) before the person has any symptoms or tests positive for COVID-19.
A risk assessment may be undertaken to determine this, but a contact can be:
• anyone who lives in the same household as another person who has COVID-19 symptoms or has tested positive for COVID-19
• anyone who has had any of the following types of contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19:
• face-to-face contact including being coughed on or having a face-to-face conversation within one metre
• been within 2 metres of someone for more than 15 minutes (either as a one-off contact or added up together over one day)
A person may also be a close contact if they have travelled in the same vehicle or plane as a person who has tested positive for COVID-19.”
I don’t know if you realize where I am going with this?
Any one of us may qualify as a possible contact and may well be forced into quarantine and be tested. The way we are going right now, the entire Nevis population may soon be placed into quarantine!
So, it augers well that we get serious with our fight against this deadly disease.
The deaths are rising; hospitalization cases increasing and more and more people are becoming infected.
The real solution is to put our trust fully in Jesus, but additionally do the things that you ought to do in order to limit infection and spread.
These include but are not limited to: Eating nourishing meals; drinking plenty of pure and clean water; regular exercise and observing the standard protocols.
Do your best and God will do the rest.
That’s the way I see it. How do you see it?