No room for complacency, stay alert, stay safe: Dr Ballal

Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru: The price we have paid during the second wave was high, but our country is no stranger to disaster, said Dr H. Sudarshan Ballal, Director of Manipal Institute, speaking at the launch of News Trail at The Lalit Ashok on Thursday. “Covid has changed every aspect of our society but the devastation has taught us a series of lessons in how to develop new ideas and strategies to tackle the pandemic. We also learned that healthcare is the key to national cohesion.”

A question often posed to him, Dr Ballal recalls, at the end of 2020, was if 2021 would be better for us. “My answer, given without batting an eyelid, was that it surely will be because nothing could be worse than the ‘Year of Corona’.” A year later, Dr Ballal admits that he could not have been more wrong. “We faced the devastation of the Delta wave, which infected millions and killed hundreds of thousands of people. It was far worse than 2020.”

Even this tragedy brought with it a silver lining. Leaps were made in science and medicine, with “scientists bringing out a vaccine in a matter of months, accomplishing what takes years to achieve. The mass free vaccination campaign has been a success with over 130 crore people being vaccinated so far,” Dr Ballal said.

As the worst of the crisis ended, the nation began to breathe easy in the latter half of 2021 as the Delta variant receded. “We were grimly reminded by the mutant Omicron variant, one that has the potential to spread rapidly. Fortunately, it has been milder so far than its predecessors.”

Our mood as we welcome 2022 is sombre, unlike the hopeful optimism we carried into 2021. We know the pandemic cannot be so easily forgotten and have adjusted to the lifestyle changes it dictates. “Corona-appropriate behaviour like wearing masks, social distancing, washing hands, mass vaccinations, robust public health measures and building up a solid healthcare system are the measures that can save us from this deadly scourge.”

Continuing the aggressive vaccination policy is imperative, Dr Ballal said. “So far, we have vaccinated more than 60% of the eligible population fully and it would be good to increase these numbers over 80% at least.”

Ridding our society of vaccine hesitancy is crucial. Dr Ballal believes that vaccinations should be made mandatory for all healthcare and frontline workers. “The PM’s announcement of a booster or precautionary dose for high-risk groups, including healthcare workers, is a welcome move. I strongly urge these groups to avail the opportunity and take a third dose.”Healthcare workers were infected and some even succumbed, Dr Ballal says, as “personal protection measures were inadequate, poorly practiced and in some instances, altogether unavailable. There was no vaccine at the time either.”

A better understanding of the personal protection measures including appropriate masks, appropriate use of PPE, other infection control measures and availability of the vaccine helped the healthcare workers mitigate the massive onslaught of Corona in the second wave. It is time now again to reorient our healthcare workers and reinforce these measures to protect them against future waves. Infection control measures in the hospital that were implemented during the massive second wave which included restriction of visitors, screening of visitors, social distancing in general areas and lifts, promotion of video consults to cut down on personal visits will help limit the exposure of the healthcare workers. Similar measures will have to be reinstituted with full vigour again in view of the impending third wave” he said.

Dr Ballal also added that while some state governments didn’t give a satisfactory performance during the pandemic, “Karnataka did a good job.” He sees the future with some optimism now, saying, “Now that we have the vaccine and know the virus’ behaviour to some extent, we can certainly fight the third wave.”

“On this New Year eve let us take the pledge to be a responsible, sensitive citizen, follow Covid appropriate behaviour and the rules and regulations laid down by the public health authorities to prevent the spread of Covid, get rid of vaccine hesitancy and get vaccinated as early as possible. Together we can battle the scourge of Covid and keep our society and country safe. Wish all of you a wonderful safe 2022,” Dr Ballal added.