“The patient is a 38 year old male who travelled to Italy with his wife. They were part of a group of 10 people and they arrived back in South Africa on March 1, 2020.”
Who could have imagined the crippling impact this sentence would have left us with two years later, and yet here we are, still surviving.
As the new year peeps through, perhaps we should take a moment to be grateful for all we have managed to overcome and to remember those loved ones who are unfortunately no longer with us.
I am certain that 2021, much like its predecessor, has been a year full of transitions.
While I always try to view the glass as half full, I cannot help but wonder how after millions lost their livelihoods, our country was still unable to learn a lesson in terms of health and economic response.
Let us not forget what must have been one of the harshest lockdowns that clearly did not allocate enough relief funding for those left helpless during that period.
Add to that the horrendous July riots which saw over 300 deaths and further ruin to an already unstable economy and you have what I would call a catastrophic sequence of events.
As infections decreased steadily and deaths were at an all time low, many of us became hopeful that the severity of Covid-19 would begin to ease.
However that was short lived as the new Omicron variant reared its ugly head.
Infections began hitting a lot closer to home and with no end in sight, it definitely put a damper on the Christmas spirit.
Not to mention the Christmas weekend that saw at least a third of the South Coast without a drop of water. Preparing lunch without water was an experience (and not the fun kind). But that’s a rant for another day.
Fast forward to at least 12 presidential briefings later, I cannot understand why the government could not follow suit from countries who managed to successfully contain the virus within these last two years.
Instead, we are now stumbling between economic, public health and possibly humanitarian crises.
If only the country managed funds and resources correctly with transparency, things may have worked out a lot differently for all of us.
The scepticism between government and its people is so evident, especially in terms of election participation and even vaccination utilisation.
I wish I knew what the solution was, but at this point it feels so far gone that even I would not know where to start.
However, on the brighter side of things, hopefully 2022 will bring much needed joy, opportunities, relief and good health to you and your families.
Keep pushing forward because of you made it through these last two years, you can do anything!
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