Living with virus is complying with laws as well

Muscat: Even during this unprecedented time of global crisis that has devastated economies and the entire health system, it is painful to see that a vast majority of people are not complying with the laws as part of the precautionary measures to combat novel coronavirus spread.

Many of whom I spoke to claimed that they were trying to live with COVID-19 pandemic situation.  Does living with the situation mean that we can break the laws? If not what do they mean by ‘living with the virus”?

Almost 186 countries were forced to implement varying degrees of restrictions on population movement to prevent the spread of the infections with Oman being no exception. We also know that such measures might have saved lives, but have come at the cost of severe socio-economic impact.

All sorts of things have changed as a result of the pandemic. There is a huge push towards digital environments as we navigate social distancing measures and public health concerns. Ultimately, this is the direction the financial services industry was headed, but it is concerning that the pace of change may leave many members of society feeling daunted or disconnected.

We all know that lockdowns are entwined with a number of problems including unemployment, isolation, an unprecedented migrant worker crisis, and widespread loss of access to healthcare.

This means lockdowns and other extreme restrictions cannot be sustained for the long term except that they give time for countries to reduce the incidence of disease and put in place robust, yet sustainable, measures to prevent and control transmission to balance various health, social, and economic concerns.

Still we allow rooms for the authorities to clamp lockdowns with our evasive attitude to simple laws of physical distancing or wearing masks. Even though it is only night lockdown we fear more curbs. This shows that we did not learn from the months-long curfew like situation that prevailed in our country.

We need to respect the recommendations and measures issued by the authorities, to protect ourselves, our kith and kin and people who live in our society.  We should not wait for something bad to happen so that we learn.

True, we have learned to do online transactions so that we do not have to go to the stores to get our essentials or other materials. We also learned how to work from home in addition to several things that reduce gatherings.

But one should know that when one gets infected with the virus due to a recalcitrant attitude, one might expose others to it. While we simply do not know the magnitude of what lies ahead, our experience since March is that of a resurgence.

So we should join the authorities to do what is necessary to protect and serve one another, today and in the future. Everything can end tomorrow. Focus on what is important to us. After doing this we can claim that we have learnt to live with the virus. Remember that the best life lesson is learned during hard times and when we make mistakes. Let us not repeat mistakes.