We can’t let our guard down. Not again.

We are at the juncture when we see significant reduction in positivity rate, fresh Covid positive cases and fatalities across the country. This is all good news. But this should not lull us into complacency. This is just not the time to let our guard down.

One misstep by an individual may end up harming many. If we do not want the trauma of the past three months to return to haunt us –- deaths, people gasping for breath, searching desperately for oxygen cylinders and beds, suffering outside hospitals and crematoriums. These were caused largely by the blunders that were committed in the weeks that preceded them.

In the first few months of this year, as the number of new cases reduced, we pretended as if the virus had vanished. We dropped the ball on Covid-appropriate behaviour: off came the masks, we mingled in crowds, stepped out in public places in droves, traveled in unsafe manner, and participated in large gatherings of all hues – social and political. All this happened when the vaccination programme was not fully underway. Unfortunately for us, during this period, the virus acted on its own vicious plan. It mutated into a shape-shifter that hit back with a vengeance.

Keep that mask up.

Last month, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued the guideline that fully vaccinated individuals no longer needed to wear masks – indoors or outdoors, even in crowded spaces. 

The recommendation evoked strong reactions within the United States. Some perceived it as an incentive to get jabs for those who had not got any. Others argued that it endangered a chunk of the American population, including students, who were yet to be vaccinated. Now, we must remember that 45% of Americans are fully vaccinated (the comparable figure for Indians is 3%). Even then, it is better to err on the side of caution when it comes to mask wearing by the vaccinated. It does no harm. And everyone is safer.

It is possible the memories of the harrowing experience of the last few weeks may make us change our habits and shun complacency. In an OpEd, recently, renowned behavioural change expert Biju Dominic examined how the second wave had dented the self-confidence of Indians. Dominic saw an opportunity in this adversity. 

He recalled that some of the biggest achievements of Independent India, such as the green and white revolutions, emerged from the Himalayan challenges of another era, namely, hunger and malnutrition, and asked whether we could expect a health revolution to come out of the recent experiences. “That would be the best way to try erasing traumatic memories of the pandemic from the national psyche,” he wrote.

The way forward

?A lot more will be expected from governments, in terms of strengthening healthcare infrastructure, delivery of services and anticipating crises. At an individual level, dealing with the pandemic shall continue to involve sticking scrupulously to covid-appropriate behaviour.

According to Yale economist Mushfiq Mubarak, lockdowns produce about four times the benefits of mask-wearing programmes but cost at least 10 times as much. Which is why, lockdowns are only short-term palliatives. Even as India’s vaccination programme gathers momentum, the trusted troika of masking, social distancing and hand hygiene is our surest bet.

 Not ruling out subsequent waves of the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist at the World Health Organisation, says the efforts put in in the next 6-18 months will be critical in battling the pandemic.

We need to be in a state of complete vigilance for the next several months. There is no way we can afford to repeat the mistake of letting complacency take over our lives . Whether we have recovered from the virus or not, have got one jab or two, are younger or older than 45, it does not matter. What matters is how much attention we pay to making active choices that will stop the transmission of the virus in the next few months.

It is time to brace up for the long haul and evolve a strong behavioural regimen to go with the new normal.

One person making the mistake of not wearing a mask at a meeting, or dragging his/her feet about taking a shot or ignoring a set of symptoms, can set off a chain of transmission that can affect multiple people. Multiply that many times and we shall have a surge. It happened once, let us not let it happen again.

Bringing down the positivity rate or number of cases or casualties are important battles. But long after the crisis mode has been switched off, the war against the virus will continue to have to be waged. Until the majority of the people have been vaccinated.