Since the end of the year 2019 when coronavirus broke out, many who are still living have greatly lost it because of the deadly pandemic. This pandemic has brought untold pain and sufferings to humankind irrespective of race, settlements and demography. All the continents of the world have been hard hit; both whites and blacks, young and old, rich and poor alike. This has left the World Health Organization, WHO restless and in her desperation, she continues to throw back the challenge to governments and peoples of the world to endeavor to observe the barrier measures put in place as this may be the only way out if we take collective action against the enemy. In this respect, wearing face masks, keeping social distancing, washing of hands regularly with soap, the use of hand sanitizers among other measures can help curb the radical spread of the deadly covid-19.
The cry from the onset seemed not to have produced positive effects as daily briefings continue to indicate that there is a steady rise in the number of infections and deaths. Projections indicate that the pandemic may stay with us longer than we could be prepared to host.
It has therefore been a call for all to put hands on deck in solidarity with our selfless medical practitioners to stop the spread.
This reporter has been following events in Cameroon, Central Africa and the behavioral patterns of many citizens seem to be reflecting what is happening in the other countries in Africa and even some parts of the world. Since the Government of Cameroon put in place measures to curb the spread of the virus on March 17, 2020 through a declaration made by the country’s Prime Minister, Chief Dr. Joseph Dion Ngute to complement those already put in place by WHO, many have seemed to be indifferent about this and still in many cases, go about their daily activities undisturbed. This has resulted in the growing numbers recorded in testing units spread across the country.
The bottom line is this; covid-19 is real and kills indiscriminately. Staying home is the surest and safest way to curb the spread of the disease. Also, maintaining social distancing will greatly limit the spread because the virus does not move but we do. When we go closer to infected people, the virus can quickly spread. This is because, they talk and droplets of the bacteria can leave the infected person and fall on either our mouths, eyes, noses or on surfaces and if we happen to touch the contaminated surfaces and our hands mistakenly go to the entry points mentioned about, we can get infected with the virus. So, staying home is staying safe. Also, staying home saves you and saves the people you love most.
Dr. Nkwentie says, “Having the right mindset will help us overcome.” To him, the worst killer is a defeatist mindset and that we need to first of all tell ourselves that though there is no particular vaccine or cure, people get well – a greater number of those who caught the virus in our country. He also says that people should learn to call the attention of medic practitioners when feeling unsafe or when having cough, fever and difficulties in breathing. “When this is done early enough, we have very high chances of overpowering the pandemic. Have the right attitude that covid-19 is just a pandemic and not a curse or death sentence.” He said.
This caused us to go down memory lane to learn about pandemics that have always bowed out in many cases when there is synergy between health practitioners and populations. Antonine plaque killed about 5million, Justinian plaque took close to 50million lives, black death killed a third of the world’s population, Russian flu killed a million, third cholera wasted well over a million lives, Spanish flu took 100 million lives, Asian flu killed 2million, flu pandemic killed about a million and HIV/AIDS is estimated to have killed about 36million lives according to an online source, biozoo.
Therefore, we can also and will overcome covid-19. Note be taken, we are the right people to either stop the spread or sponsor its comfortable and expensive stay with us.
Awoh Caleb
