To stay safe and alive, follow the SOPs

On July 30, President Museveni announced a partial re-opening of the country relaxing, among others, restrictions on trade, movements, and transport.
This strategic decision was taken in consideration of the socioeconomic vulnerability of the population, and uncertainty around the timelines for attaining a threshold, herd level of vaccination. The consensus was understandably so, that “you can’t keep Ugandans locked up indefinitely while the economy is bleeding and people have nothing to eat”.
There is another side of the story the Ugandans coming out to work must understand.
Despite the 42-day lockdown, we had not effectively suppressed the transmission dynamics, which happens when the positivity rate drops to equal or under 5 per cent. That means that, at a staggering 7 to 8 per cent positivity rate, there was still active transmission happening within people’s homes and the community, despite the restriction.
Worst still, although there are high burden districts like Kampala, Mukono, Wakiso, Kyotera, Gulu and Amuru, the picture overall is that the bug is present in all districts of the country.
What does this lifting of restrictions then imply, for the populace? In terms of disease control strategy, it means the state has passed on the mantle or responsibility for protecting oneself and controlling the community transmission dynamics, back to the populace. That trust comes with many expectations from the public, particularly in regard to the requirement to comply to the standard operating procedures ( SOPs). This responsibility is further emphasized by the low levels of vaccinations accrued (only about 1.2 million) among the target, eligible population (21.9 million). More important to appreciate though, is that unlike the original Wuhan or A.23.1  Uganda variants, the current widely distributed delta variant is very effectively  and highly transmissible. Literally speaking, if the opening up during the first wave represented a training drill under a mixture of blank and live shots, what we have loosed Ugandans onto is an actively raging battlefield.
Ugandans must, therefore, appreciate amidst the celebrations of the lifting, that their continued survival depends on their keen observance of the SOPs. . Moreover, in light of the uncertainty around the exact point of contact for infection, it becomes our collectively communal responsibility to monitor ourselves and those within communities, for compliance
I argue that this is the best test for the widely pronounced adage, “living with the disease”. As the response, moving forward ( as we navigate our options for expanding the vaccination drive)--our eyes and decisons shall no longer be heavily determined by the number of daily cases, but rather the available care capacity. As long as we have the bed capacity to admit and care for those wounded, the status quo will continue. The numbers might and are most certainly likely to grow, but that shall not be the measure for re-introducing lockdowns. That calls for a little bit more vigilance on part of populace.
Dr Misaki Wayengera, Chair-MoH Scientific Advisory Committee on Covid-19