The last two years were miserable as families did not enjoy their holidays together because of restrictions that were in place to curb the spread of the diabolical Covid-19 pandemic.
Many people lost their lives and the void left was an insurmountable task to fill.
The year 2021 is going to go down in history as the worst year of the pandemic as two deadly waves hit across the world. The second wave ended around February 2021 while the third wave frighteningly rose to the peak around July of the same year in Zimbabwe.
To date, 5 611 deaths have been officially recorded, but the number is thought to be far higher than this figure as data collection was not as robust as expected.
Some patients were not enumerated while those who had false negative results remained uncounted on national statistics.
The government of Zimbabwe should be applauded for working tirelessly to contain the pandemic at a time when the entire world thought Africa was going to be decimated.
Today, all serious Covid-19 measures have been scrapped in many countries and masking up is now a taboo for many people who now claim that masks are irritants that should be discarded into the bin.
We should be reminded that all the serious variants of the Covid-19 have something to do with the months of November and December.
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In 2020, the beta variant (formerly 501.V2) emerged from South Africa and started to wreak havoc in the world while 2021 saw the rise of the stubborn Omicron strain that was declared a virus of concern by World Health Organisation on November 25.
Our Christmas holidays have always been negatively affected for the past two years and it is my hope that 2022 is a changed year that will not be caught unexpectedly by the heinous virus.
South Africa is now showing an upward trend of Covid-19 incidence over the past few days, with average daily cases of around 500, a development which should worry us as we draw near to the festive seasons.
Whatever happens in South Africa has a ripple effect in Zimbabwe as millions of our own citizens stay in the neighbouring country.
Kenya has already raised the red flag about the imminent emergence of the seventh wave in the country.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is recording significant numbers, with five deaths recorded last Friday.
United States of America is experiencing the new strain of the Covid-19, BN.1 and the mutant strain is fast spreading in cities and towns.
It is not surprising to hear that another virulent strain is identified in South Africa sooner than later.
Covid-19 seems to be far from over and the world should not loosen guard at this juncture. People have been lately lax to get vaccinated and what is infuriating is that since the beginning of Covid-19 vaccinations, only 31.5% of the eligible population has been fully vaccinated.
The country was targeting at least 60% vaccination status in order to archive herd immunity, alas, it is different on the ground as very few people see the public health measure as serious.
Why are some people still shunning vaccination yet the previous pandemics disappeared after massive vaccination campaigns?
The 1957 Asian Flu and 1968 Hong Kong Flu vanished after the relentless efforts by American microbiologist, Maurice Hilleman who made the vaccines.
Acquired immunity has appeared in some patients because of previous infections, but if Covid-19 continues to appear with different mutant strains, then the trouble is far from over.
We are beginning to notice some isolated cases of Covid-19 with respiratory distress because of hypoxia and we hope the cases will not continue to sprout as we head towards the festive seasons.
The calamitous virus should be locked out for good, but it needs you and me. Let us remain very vigilant against the virus.
Let all suspicious cases get tested as we do not want to lose any more of our citizens. We do not want to be caught off guard considering that 90% of the public health measures have either been dropped or are being ignored today.
Keep watch of the virus today!
