Time to stop flirting with death

Death is lurking around the corner but we continue to remain oblivious despite being witness to ghastly scenes a month ago.

The second wave of Covid-19 has shown laxity in adherence to Covid protocols can be fatal.

Social individual responsibility comes into play in these trying times and with states easing restrictions, citizens need to show restraint and not get carried away by urge to head out.

States should be strict in ensuring negative RT-PCR tests are not given a pass.

Maharashtra, home to India’s financial capital Mumbai and the second-most populous state, has eased some restrictions. But health officials have urged authorities to ensure they are not caught off-guard by the third wave.

With major cities slowly getting back to normal life, the respective state governments should go for a calibrated approach and ensure citizens don’t flout guidelines.

Experts are expecting the third wave to hit India by October and the pandemic’s threat will remain for at least another year.

The projections for the third wave are also scary with total number of cases set to be double than those in second wave with kids and young adults in danger of being affected.

Indians can ill-afford to make same mistakes again. We have seen enough devastation and must be collective in our efforts to stave off this Covid-19 threat.

The Delhi High Court on June 18 also warned that breach in Covid protocols will only hasten third wave, which cannot be permitted at all. It has asked authorities to sensitise shopkeepers and ensure social distancing norms are not flouted.

Getting vaccinated is one way of ensuring we are safe and hopefully with vaccine supply woes being addressed, the vaccination drive should pick up pace in the next few months.

Otherwise, as a leading doctor’s tweet suggested, the hospitals are going to be flooded again with cases and the same images will come back to haunt us.