COVID-19 WAVE III: Were the Lessons Learned from Last Year Implemented?

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Miss Dur e Shehwar, a medical student from Pakistan. She is affiliated with the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong strictly to the writer and do not necessarily reflect IFMSA’s view on the topic, nor The European Sting’s one.

COVID a word unfamiliar to our ears before Dec 31, 2019. This severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus – 2 spread within no time in 18 countries across the globe, thus on 30 Jan 2020 WHO declared COVID as pandemic.

COVID FIRST WAVE

            I don’t know about the rest of people but when I got the news of the 1st COVID case reported in Pakistan on Feb 26, 2020 I mistook it as a joke but this certainly is not a joke as COVID not only affects physical health but also has impacted our social lives. It damages economies of countries, foreign exchanges, infra structures, education systems and last but not the least mental health of people. This wave takes 53 days to reach its peak. Lessons learned during the first wave include: Personal Hygiene, Pandemic preparation, immediate restrictions of abroad travel, testing kit, extensive overhaul of the health system and consistency in use of precautionary measures.

 COVID SECOND WAVE

        COVID wave-2 started on Oct 3, 2020 is no less destructive than the first one, although this time the government and people were serious and were able to manage wave-2 to some extent. Lessons learned from the second wave include: mass testing, effective contracting tracing, social costs must be considered and no economy is immune. Second wave proved to be a blessing as vaccines were developed and were first implemented in Islamabad on 2^nd Feb 2021 bringing hope that this deadly virus can be controlled, but before the mass implementation it faced a lot of hurdles in Pakistani Society as uneducated people thought that vaccines in preliminary stages can negatively affect their health. The wave prolongs for 65 days.

COVID THIRD WAVE

            Although we got the vaccine yet this fatal virus keeps on modifying itself resulting in a third wave on 22^nd Feb 2021. The scale for the third wave was steeper than the first two, being largely driven by the high number of cases reported in Punjab and KPK, despite all the precautionary measures taken during the first two waves. Steps taken during the third wave includes COVID vaccine campaign for health workers and persons above 50 years of age and started importing vaccines from China. Educational institutions at high risk districts were closed, all types of public gathering were banned. Now it has passed over 50 days yet no signs of peak appears as approximately above 5000 cases reported daily.

HOW CAN THE SITUATION BE IMPROVED?

            The situation can be improved by educating masses self restrictions to alleviate the situation. Educate people to have benefits of vaccination by calling renowned Doctors to advise people at prime hours on TV.

            If the situation is not taken for granted seriously it proves more and more fatal for us. COVID virus mutated itself and proved to be more harmful than before, so it takes an hour to take the government advice seriously before it’s too late.          

About the author

Miss Dur e Shehwar IFMSAPK-44-AMC025 born on 25 Jan 2001. Currently studying in Army Medical College, enjoys the opportunity of expressing her thoughts about the 3rd wave of COVID provided by IFMSA . She remained a member of the literary society of Fazaia Inter College Jinnah Camp. Her articles published in College Magazine “Shuoor” during her stay at college she holds different key appointments. She won the award of Brilliant Student for the Year 2019 by clinching Chief of Air Staff Gold Medal being Over all First Position in Fazaia Chain of Inter Colleges.