Afflicting reverberations

India stands at the cusp of another health emergency as the Covid cases continue to soar across the country. The situation today resembles the one we witnessed in the initial months of the previous year. The months that had followed February last year, culminating into the second wave, were forgettable and could safely be termed as the worst. Entire country should strive collectively to avoid the same lethal mess in 2022. While in the previous year, it was the Delta strain of the SARS-CoV-2 that had wreaked havoc, this time around it is coupled with three times more transmissible Omicron variant. The total Covid cases in the country have reached above 27,000 and Omicron cases crossed the 1,500-mark. The lethal nature of Delta, coupled with high transmissibility of Omicron, poses a dual threat. The advent of Omicron in the Western nations like the United States and the United Kingdom was made ahead of India and the prevailing situation there could offer insightful leads to India for handling the dual-strain threat. Overwhelming hospitals across the US is indeed a worrying sign. As per data by US Health and Human Services Department, nearly 78 per cent of ICU beds in the country are in use, with 22 per cent of those occupied by Covid-19 patients. It won't be wrong to expect that a similar overwhelming healthcare facility could follow in India as well. Shortage of life saving-facilities like emergency wards, ventilators etc. were real factors behind the chaos and destruction we had witnessed in 2021 during the second wave. Now that things appear to go the same way, it is time that we avert the dangerous path through responsible actions and head towards a safe and secure year. The countries in the West that are witnessing record number of Covid cases — like the US, the UK, France, Germany, Spain etc. — are also one of the leading countries in terms of vaccination. More than a quarter of the population in the said countries have already received a booster dose. This indicates that vaccination has not to be the only area of focus as it is not enough. Much will depend on how prepared the healthcare infrastructure of a country is. The fact that countries like the US and the UK are able to brace the situation somewhat confidently is due to the high standards of healthcare infrastructure they have. Whether the same could be said for India is doubtful. On the positive side, Omicron and overall cases have already peaked in Africa and are on a downward trend — despite the fact that the continent is lagging far behind the rest of the world in terms of vaccination. A caveat must be put here that the peak and decline in the number of cases in Africa has not been a smooth journey. India doesn't necessarily need to go through the rough patch if it can ramp up its healthcare facilities well in time and vaccinate its population properly. Even though the highly-transmissible Omicron leads to less hospitalization when compared to delta, reports suggest that the old, immunocompromised and unvaccinated may still be at the receiving end. Another wrong news coming in from the US is that the pediatric hospital admissions in the country for Covid-19 are the highest they've ever been over the course of the pandemic. These signs don't augur well. The Indian government's decision to extend its vaccination program for children is laudable in this respect, but then again, a lot more needs to be done. Furthermore, it is not just the action of the government that matters. The pandemic is affecting every person and all must participate equally to fight against the virus, only then the victory of the human race will be ensured. The unmasked and reckless celebrations on the New Year eve and some other recent events reflect a lack of seriousness among a section of people. Undoubtedly, similar acts were one among the major factors behind the advent of the second wave in India. Can we afford to have another such catastrophe? Certainly not. With many scientific findings around the Omicron still being ambiguous, it is the seriousness and the poise of the people that holds central importance. Our actions will define our immediate future. To end with a reminder: Everything can wait when hundreds and thousands of lives are at stake.