We know it but we still do it. We know why we should not speed yet if no one is looking we have an urge to do so. We know exercise is needed but we want to procrastinate. We know gathering is not good for us, yet we happen to be in the midst and think Covid-19 happens to others. We know we have been told to wear the mask. But there are moments when we want to get away with inhaling fresh air.
Now that the numbers are increasing we have begun to wonder when this has been happening and how and why the Covid-19 cases are increasing. The trend seems to be global. We want the normalcy but the numbers have become a hindrance.
So the nights have frozen once again from 8 pm in Oman. Would there be tougher measures to bring the numbers down? During the first round the media was accused of creating fear and anxiety in the world. When media and cautions eased out the numbers turned around and the new trait of Covid-19 is also being blamed for the quick spread of infection. However currently at the Royal Hospital’s ICU there is no one admitted who has taken the vaccine.
We are yet to understand the virus yet. Why did it appear now? Have we harmed nature and is that why we are going through the situation we are today? No matter how much information is released, these questions keep popping up. Maybe we thought we knew more than what we knew last time this year.
We know the protocol for precautions yet knowingly or unknowingly we have been breaking them. Was it the urge to go back to normalcy? What we must understand is that after one year of battling it out with Covid-19, health workers might be tired. So our secured steps can make a difference. Maybe it was in a different context but in a way the quote of baseball legend Yogi Berra is relevant here too, “It ain’t over ‘till it’s over.” The recovery rate from Covid-19 has come down to 91 per cent and we need to bounce back and that can only be done through a collective conscience.
On Monday @OmanVsCovid19 reminded us, “Your negligence to apply the precautionary measures contributes injury to you and those around you.”
Experts say it takes about 21 days to form a habit. Now we have been practising the Covid-19 prevention protocol for a year.
So where are we going wrong? Even in institutional quarantine we found ways to break the rules but at what cost? When we eased up did we practice leniency? So here we are with tougher measures such as night lockdown and might even get tougher.
Nevertheless life must go on with positivity and there have been quite a few people who have been working undeterred.
The farmers are focused more and in Oman it is time to enjoy custard apple -cream fruit in Barka. Maybe it is time to focus around our surroundings as well and support the local producers and farmers.
With all the digitalisation we have been going through, maybe it is time the farmers and fishermen got onto the platform and who best to explore other than the youth. With them knowing the latest trends and happenings it would be interesting what they would come up with.
So it is a time to be concerned about but it is also a period when we need innovation at almost all levels from working remotely to finding ways to work smarter. If food delivery is working out from restaurants why not produce from farmers?
Virtual souqs and live online auction markets might be the order of the day.
After all more ways than one our reality is turning out to be virtual and the current experts happen to be school students, the ones with the key to the future.
Lakshmi Kothaneth
lakshmiobserver@gmail.com
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