Early April 2020 I wrote an article that expressed a most sordid picture. I painted a most picture in which things turned rather nasty before they got better. I asked my reader to imagine thousands of people across the country falling sick and dying like flies – buried by a handful of individuals like persons without a home and a country. I asked him to imagine death at a scale that surpasses the Aids deaths of the late 1990s. I asked him to imagine over 500 funerals in one village! To imagine a whole family, a whole surname being wiped out from the face of the earth! No! It was not an exaggeration. My morbid picture was influenced by the scary numbers reports we were receiving from Spain, Italy and Germany – countries with a far more superior health system to ours. People were dying there like flies. I feared for my own country. God saved us. We were spared the horror.
We are however experiencing large numbers of corona cases across the country. The country’s health system is stressed. The isolation centres are full. There are no sufficient beds for the sick. There are few oxygen bottles. The dung has hit the fan. And yet we are still better than European countries. God has spared us. Only 300 people have lost their lives. I say only because our situation is not even comparable to that of European countries. For instance, Italy reported its first death on February 21, 2020; a week later, February 28th: 21 people were dead. Week two, March 6th: 197 people were dead. Week three, March 13: 1266 people were dead. Week four, March 20th: 4,032 people were dead. Week five, March 27th: 9,134 people were dead. Week six, April 3rd, 14,681 people were dead. From one death to 14,681 deaths in six weeks. That was Italy. What about Spain? Spain reported its first death on March 3rd; a week later, March 10th: 36 people were dead, Week two, March 17th: 533 people were dead. Week three, March 24th: 2,991 people were dead. Week four, March 31st: 8,464 people were dead. Before week five ended on April 5th, 12,641 people were dead. From one death to 12,642 deaths in less than five weeks. That is no joke!
That is why I say we have been spared. We have not experienced anything close to what some of these European countries have experienced. At the worst time of the virus, precisely on March 30th, 913 people were killed by the coronavirus in Spain. The situation was to become even worse. On April Fool’s Day, on April 1st, as if the Greek gods were having a laugh at the Spaniards, 923 people died in one day while 961 were wiped out on April 2nd. The statistics coming from Italy were equally horrific as 919 people lost their lives in one day on March 27th.
Sadly, by the end of the year and early 2021, many in the country, including some politicians, thought that the coronavirus was overexaggerated. The government’s success in keeping the numbers of deaths low created complacency. The coronavirus was nothing to fear. Many seemed to think they were immune to the virus. Social distancing was abandoned, and many did not wear their masks appropriately. Many became doubting Thomases. If it were true that coronavirus was indeed deadly, why is that they could not see people drop dead. They needed a sign. Crowding i supermarkets and streets continued. The parties and excessive drinking went on unabated. People refused to stay at home. They wanted to roam the streets, visit friends, and socialize. They move from one city to another, from one village to another and from village to city and from city to village. My people have an idiom which captures some of our people’s reckless behaviour: go thanya lomapo lo le tsebeng loosely translated “to wake up with a spike in your ear”.
It’s a most painful proposition! It appears many wanted to see people die first before they could take the virus seriously. Then, it would be too late. The coronavirus spike would have been thrust deep into our social consciousness. We seem to be at that stage. We are weekly burying people we know: friends, relatives and acquaintances. There are restrictions on the numbers who can attend – not more than 50 we have been told. The funerals are sadder. There is more work to be done. People are inconsolable. The pastors and priests are human too. They are scared to officiate at funerals. Our situation may be better than that of Spain and Italy, but they provide a useful lesson to us. We still need to stay at home and avoid crowding. There is still too much movement in our cities. Many still do not wear their masks properly as they leave their noses exposed. We must admit that as a country we do not have enough medication, hospitals, doctors, nurses, ventilators, masks, sanitisers etc. Prevention and not treatment, must remain the best way out.