There is hope after a painful year, but keep your guard up

The March 12, 2020 confirmation of the first case of Covid-19 in Kenya sent the country into panic.

There was every reason for Kenyans, indeed the whole world, to worry given the reported devastation caused by the pandemic in Wuhan, China, where it originated in December 2019.

In a relatively short period, the novel virus for which no antidote existed, found firm foothold in Europe and later spread out across the globe. To date, America is the worst hit with about 525,000 deaths from Covid-19. 

Almost one year later, Kenyans are doing all they can to emerge from the ashes of the worst period in the country's history during which everything was thrown into a spin as the government desperately tried to cope with the new emergency. Covid-19 complicated matters for government which, at the time, was pre-occupied with fighting the threat posed by desert locusts that invaded Kenya from Somalia and Ethiopia in December 2019.

Across the world, the first line of defence adopted by governments were cessation of air travel and lockdowns. This was followed by the closure of learning institutions and other unwelcome disruptions. In the lockdowns, however, lay the origin of most of our problems.

Economies thrive on the free movement of goods and people, yet lockdowns meant everything had to be grounded. As a consequence, our economy has suffered major setbacks, including loss of jobs, company closures and loss of revenue through inability to collect taxes.

Besides, loss of earning meant that a majority of Kenyans lost their purchasing power, which also led to a slump in small scale businesses that largely rely on the working class to thrive.

Hopefully, this is set to change with the recent arrival of the Covid-19 vaccine which, we believe, marked a turning point. Last year, the government placed an order for 24 million doses of the vaccine of which 1.02 million have already been received.

More are expected early next month. This is not to say, however, that citizens should lower their guard. On the contrary, they should be even more vigilant because a third wave of Covid-19 is reported to be underway based on the recent spike in infections and deaths.  

We cannot hope to have the government relax Covid-19 containment measures when citizens, led by scheming and often selfish politicians, act irresponsibly and endanger their lives and those of others.

We must continue to wear face masks, keep social distance, sanitise and wash our hands. This is for our own good if we truly want to make progress against Covid-19 and open up our economy as we all desire.