EDITORIAL

The sudden increase of Covid-19 cases in the country is a clear indication that we have stopped taking the necessary precautions to protect ourselves from the killer virus.

Many of us seem to have regressed to our old ways of going on with our lives, some by force and others by choice.

With the spike in cases, one wonders if the Indian variant - which continues to ravage the that nation - has not reached our shores.

Our inability to procure the required amount of vaccines speaks to the lack of urgency on the part of government. There is a stark difference in the level of urgency that was displayed when government was procuring masks and sanitisers from local middlemen and now with the vaccine.

When the cartel controlling procurement in the medical sector stands to benefit, processes are executed swiftly, but the moment there is nothing to pocket, the nation is told how cumbersome international procurement processes are.



The lack of sufficient oxygen levels at our medical facilities is also a cause of concern, because the rise in cases will subsequently lead to an increased demand for hospitalisation in the public and private sector.

The health ministry must pull up its socks and adopt workable measures to get the vaccine into the country.