Covid-19: Normalcy in sight

The decision to reopen schools in a week’s time will be welcomed by all children, teachers and parents, not just because it diminishes the burden on the children, but because the people of Zimbabwe have managed to get the infection rates in the fourth wave right down so that reopening is generally safe.

At the same time, the continuing falls of infection rates into the tail end of the fourth wave allowed Acting President Constantino Chiwenga on Friday, after consulting the Government’s medical and public health experts, and looking hard at the numbers and the graphs, to slash back the curfew to 5,5 hours a day from midnight and allow bars, nightclubs and restaurants to stay open until 10pm, at least for the fully vaccinated.

A lot of this near return to normality is predicated on the good sense of Zimbabweans, that we will continue to take precautions to minimise the risks of infections, something we have become used to in almost two years and so should have no problem carrying on.

So we will continue to wear our masks in public, especially in crowded areas such as buses, shops and offices, and we will continue to wash and sanitise and we will continue to be careful who we touch and get too close to.

The lockdown regulations remain in place, but there are limits to how many corners a police officer can be present so most of the measures require our good sense and co-operation if they are going to continue working.

While infection rates are decreasing, with the weekly average falling to less than 200 a day by Friday, we are still in the fourth wave, although at just over 4 percent of what we saw at the mid-December peak. And we all know, having seen four waves already, that Covid-19 can suddenly surge into a new wave with negligible warning. So being smart and alert is the way forward.

Those worried about whether our statistics are accurate need just look at the death rates, since every death in Zimbabwe has been given a cause. Right now, as expected, we are on a plateau corresponding to the plateau in infection rates we saw three to four weeks ago, so it appears that we do capture accurate data.

This is especially important now that several million schoolchildren are about to go to school, some of them for the first time. Most will be going back and forth each day along our roads and pavements, and a good slice will be on buses. We need to continue protecting them by being careful ourselves.

Although the finer details of how the Ministries of Health and Child Welfare is advising the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to minimise risk have yet to be confirmed to parents and children, no one seriously expects any difference from what we saw last term.

The measures largely worked last term so they can just be rigorously applied again. Even then, there were the odd school outbreaks, not many, but some, and the measures for coping were refined to become a standard operating procedure so every head knows exactly what to do. Presumably the bars on visitors, including parents who have to wait at gates, and the need to keep boarders in largely isolated environments will continue, and again presumably boarders will remain at schools during public holidays.

So far as the social side of life is concerned, the authorities are willing to allow bars and restaurants to stay open to 10pm, and still give patrons and staff time to get home by the midnight curfew. But the condition, that everyone inside these places must be fully vaccinated, needs to be properly enforced. Some do, and the smarter drinkers and diners will tend to congregate there to minimise their own risks, but far too many do not. They need to accept this is not an option.

We would agree that people can carry around a copy if they wish, although the cards are small and can fit in a wallet. What is important is that the person at the door, and everyone now has the guard at the gate, should be asking to see the card and preferably having a temperature check.

As was noted in Friday’s statement, people cannot eat and drink with a mask on so we need other precautions in a restaurant or bar, like trying not to sit close together, especially with total strangers, and making sure everyone we do sit with has been vaccinated.

One of the problems is that just a little over 34 percent of Zimbabweans aged 16 and over, the population cleared for vaccination, are fully vaccinated. The numbers edge up each day, but could be edging up a lot faster, since we have the vaccines in stock and the medical teams are working at well below capacity.

The continual professional medical advice, which is passed on by the medical authorities and the Government, is get your shots if are at least 16. Even with variants these reduce significantly your chances of being infected, and being infective, and reduce the risk of getting very ill or dying to exceptionally low levels if you are unfortunate enough to become infected. The percentage varies. Bulawayo sees more than half the eligible population fully vaccinated; Harare sees around a third. So a far higher fraction of the Bulawayo population can stop for a beer or a snack on the way home, and generally have more fun.

Covid-19 is not going away any time soon. We need to hunker down for the long-term and get used to living with it. That means we need to accept the best scientific advice available and follow the measures recommended. It should now be as automatic as not running out into the middle of the road without looking. You may be lucky, but science beats luck. In fact, we can lead a very full life if we take the precautions, including vaccination, and while we might have to tighten up during waves, we can do a lot to avoid these in the first place.

The Government is also learning all the time, which is why the lockdown in the fourth wave was not as severe as the earliest lockdowns. With low infection rates the authorities moved fast to go back to the “normal lockdown”, but that is because they trust us to be sensible. Everyone else we deal with expects the same sense and we need to repay, every one of us as an individual, that national trust.