Reactivate use of face masks, social distancing
As many people seem to have given up on the COVID-19 precautionary measures such as wearing face masks, last week, the South African scientists discovered another new COVID-19 variant known as the Omicron.
This new COVID-19 variant is causing more panic in countries whose citizens are fully vaccinated.
COVID symptoms linked to the new Omicron variant have been described as “extremely mild” by South African doctors.
Dr Angelique Coetzee, chair of the South African Medical Association, and the first doctor who first identified the COVID omicron said the patients present “unusual symptoms” that are slightly different from those associated with the Delta variant.
The delta variant has been the most infectious strain of the virus since its outbreak.
She said the patient didn’t have a sore throat, but more of a “scratchy throat” but no cough or loss of taste or smell.
Omicron has already been reported in many countries including the UK, France, Australia, Canada, Italy Japan, Israel, Netherlands, Belgium and other countries.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has raised concerns over the new variant but said it will take weeks to understand how the variant may affect diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines.
Several countries around the world are so worried about the new variant that has caused many of them to issue travel bans for foreigners. Thus, as part of the global precautions, we must also be equally worried about COVID omicron by implementing preventive measures that have been in existence since the outbreak of the virus.
Letting up?
The government especially the COID-19 national task force needs to reactivate the activities it operated in the country with laxity all along. The fact that the COVID-19 vaccination campaign has been a priority, social distancing, wearing of facemask and washing of hands have been not in practice at all.
The national Covid-19 task force, need still create more awareness among the population as it has been doing when the delta variant was discovered. This sensitization helped the country not to suffer much from the second wave of Covid-19 and the same exercise needs to be done again.
Precautionary measures such as wearing of facemask, social distancing, and washing of hands must be maintained in the schools to avoid the spread of the virus. Most schools have indeed become so reluctant in implementing the order as several children are often seen walking to schools without a facemask and they are allowed to attend classes like that.
Despite the high rate of resistance and ignorance among the population about the existence of COVID-19, the government and the WHO need to address the citizens on the new COVID variant discovered in South Africa to create awareness.
This variant is already spreading across the world and it has been reported in about 10 countries in Europe despite most of them having received the COVID-19 vaccine.
This should be of great concern to us because, in South Sudan, only a total of 89,857 people have received the vaccine in the whole country.
This is just less than 1 per cent of the total population. So, this means precautionary measures like putting on facemasks and washing of hands should be strictly adhered to by the population.
