-Rashmi Mulmi
“COVID-19 is nothing; it’s just a flu-like virus, why to be intimidated by this simple virus?”:“We Nepali are immune to this type of flu-like virus.”: “The death rate due to COVID-19is very lowin Nepal.”: “There are other reasons for death as well, why to fear of death due to COVID-19.” “I am young; I am safe from this virus.”: “This is the season of festivals, how can we celebrate alone? Let’s gather! ”: These are a few examples of opinion on COVID-19 of the public in our community which reflect our ignorant behavior on the disease. In the current situation, this ignorant behavior and non-compliance to the preventive measures have become an important fact or for the increasing trend of COVID-19 and death related to it.
Since the start of 2020, the world has been highly affected by the pandemic of COVID-19. The cases of COVID-19 started slowly in Nepal among the people with travel history only. Gradually, the cases rose affecting the people in contact with the positive cases. Meanwhile, the cases along with the death related to it are skyrocketing. The government had implemented various strategies from the outset of the pandemic in Nepal like enforcement of nationwide lockdown, management of RT-PCR, preparation of hospitals for treatment of COVID-19 cases, management of quarantine facilities, using various communication media for providing information on preventive measures of COVID-19 among the public. Despite all those strategies, Nepal failed to control the rising number of cases and death due to COVID-19.
Now, here arise the questions; why did we fail? Is this due to the weak strategic planning of our government? Or are these we people, playing a synergic role in raising the number of cases? There might be weak governance, a limited number of detection kits, human resources, etc. but where are we? As a citizen of the country, aren’t we responsible to support the country through our effort to lower down the cases? COVID-19 is transmissible, on the other side; it is highly preventable. The preventive strategies of COVID-19 like proper hand hygiene, maintaining a physical distance of at least one meter, avoiding crowded places, good respiratory hygiene, use of face masks and self-isolation even with milder symptoms: compliance to these measures protects us and prevents the spread of the virus in the community. Time and again, the government and various stakeholders are providing information on these preventive strategies to the public. We always blame for weak governance, weak strategic planning, but have we ever blamed on ourselves? Are we following these preventive measures? Why are we ignorant? Our ignorance has become the main mode of transmission of disease. Lockdown done by the government to control the disease is not a sustainable solution, while in the present situation in absence of vaccines, good hygiene behavior and practice of preventive measures are the most effective means to break the chain of transmission.
Death is inevitable; however, death due to a disease that is highly preventable is unacceptable. Even a single death due to it matters. It is not the disease killing us; it’s our ignorance making the disease to kill us. It is high time to be accountable and follow the preventive strategy. The government is doing its best, despite its limitation, let us support our government and make a conducive environment to fight against the disease. Proper hand hygiene, wearing a face mask, maintain social distance, avoiding unnecessary crowd, celebrating festivals within the family members at home, these are the new normal. Let us accept this new normal. Start from Today; from me, you, and us.
(Mulmi is Public Health Officer at Department of Cancer Prevention, Control and Research, B.P. Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital
Bharatpur, Chitwan)
