I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment express in the letter from The Observer, detailed in the Opinion page on July 2, regarding the importance of not letting our guard down as COVID-19 continues to be a global threat in light of the evolving strains.
With case numbers on the rise and the death rate increasing in a number of countries, Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 have now become the more dominant strains. Unlike Omicron BA.1, which presented with milder flu-like symptoms, the new strains appear to be more virulent, causing more severe disease and responsible for conditions, such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), targetting the lungs and vascular system.
With the emergence of these newer COVID variants, capable of causing more serious illness, it becomes even more important that people continue to remain vigilant; taking care with good hygiene practices, wearing a sealed mask and staying at home if they have a persistent cough, runny nose or sore throat.
Some countries, such as Denmark and Australia, have recently lowered the age for receiving the fourth booster shot, to 50 years of age and above. In doing so, they are hoping to curb hospital admissions and take pressure off the healthcare system.
As a community, we should continue to remain vigilant and follow the advice of the authorities, who continue to do a stellar job, in keeping us safe.
A Concerned Resident
In reference to Worried Citizen’s letter, ‘Public needs to take high daily case numbers seriously’, which appeared in the Opinion page on July 6, I have to agree that we should follow standard operating procedures closely even though the country has already entered the endemic phase.
However, I must point out that there are certain individuals who forward to others the daily case numbers on social media, causing unnecessary panic.
If we know someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, they will likely recover from it.
In the past, when the virus hit a household, we would scare ourselves into oblivion. It is not to say that we should take the pandemic lightly, especially those who are in the high-risk group or have just been tested positive for the virus.
But the silver lining is: the daily case numbers may be high, but the recovery numbers aren’t too far behind.
WC
