Have we forgotten already?

Fresh concerns over the outbreak of a new, deadly Covid-19 variant have triggered a fresh lockdown across our border in South Africa amidst fears that it is only a matter of time before we too grapple with a full blown outbreak here in Lesotho. We shudder to think how “little Lesotho” with its rickety health delivery system would cope were such an outbreak to hit this country. Easter this year, our hospitals, which were and might still not be ready to handle Covid-19 patients, buckled under pressure. Oxygen supplies were in short supply. The number of the dead piled up in our morgues. Who is his right senses might have forgotten such harrowing scenes? We raise these issues a few days after the National Covid-19 Secretariat (Nacosec) said it had sounded the alarm bells when it warned Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro of the impending danger. Dr ’Malitaba Litaba, the Nacosec boss, says they have written to Majoro advising the government to ban all political rallies in an attempt to stop the spread of the deadly virus. Dr Litaba says the rationale behind the advice to ban political rallies was because political rallies by their nature are “super spreaders”. It is very difficult to enforce Covid-19 guidelines at rallies. Thankfully this time, the National Covid-19 Secretariat appears to have its eyes on the ball. Yet despite such reasonable requests we still have pockets of resistance among politicians who think the ban would be draconian and would infringe on their right to campaign with an election just 12 months away. We would like to argue here that the politicians have got their priorities wrong. Covid-19 is a life-and-death matter. It is often said that we must learn from history and that those who do not learn from the past are bound to repeat past mistakes. We do not think any Mosotho would want to go through the same harrowing experience we went through during the second wave of the pandemic around January this year. Every Mosotho either lost a friend or relative or know of someone close who succumbed to the deadly virus. It would therefore be the height of irresponsibility for any politician, no matter what is at stake politically, to downplay the threat of the virus. In fact, any politician who calls for political rallies in this moment of crisis would have abdicated his responsibility to serve and protect Basotho. We think such politicians must be ostracized and do not deserve our vote come election time next year. We know that politicians’ main focus is the pursuit of political power. But given the current dynamics, we would urge them to err on the side of caution by halting all political gatherings. Lives are at stake. Everyone is making personal sacrifices to keep each other safe. That is why schools have now shut down following a surge in the number of infections countrywide. If there is a generation of students that has suffered, it is the current group that is still enrolled in schools. But the government has no choice but to send the children home. We do not comprehend why anyone would want to find fault with such a decision. In our view, this is a clear case of damned if you do and damned if you don’t. But the government had to act to protect school children. It was the right call.