JN1 jitters

IT has been nearly four years since covid19 emerged as a public health emergency of international concern, but this virus is not finished with us.

Almost half a dozen people have died because of the disease since Christmas, according to figures given by Terrence Deyalsingh on Monday. Amid concerns about rising cases internationally, being driven by the JN1 variant, religious leaders will convene a virtual meeting on Saturday.

“My feeling is there might be a lot more cases than what was reported, because a lot of people do not rush to medical places right away when they get sick,” said Lloyd Mukram Sirjoo, the pundit who leads the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO).

To make matters worse, it is impossible to distinguish between covid19 symptoms and that of the classic flu without a PCR test. With the World Health Organization (WHO) ending the pandemic last May, testing has fallen by the wayside, with people eager to move on. There is markedly less enthusiasm for self-testing kits, which are being sold at discounted rates in some places.

While it is yet to be officially detected, the JN1 variant is almost certain to reach these shores. The Minister of Health on Monday noted lack of laboratory detection does not mean it is not already here.

Last month, WHO declared JN1, a descendant of the Omicron strain, as a separate “variant of interest” due to its rapidly increasing spread. It’s already behind hospitalisations in the US and has been found in the UK, China and India.

Carnival is a time, traditionally, when conditions are ripe in this country for the transmission of viruses. This is why the festival had to be shelved at the height of the pandemic.

But even before covid19, the season was known for bringing about the circulation of bugs in the population, due in no small measure to the influx of tourists and returning nationals from abroad, including from many countries experiencing winter, a traditional time of greater illness.

All these factors suggest we cannot afford to forget the protocols and practices that reigned at the height of the pandemic. They also make it particularly lamentable the fact that 800,000 covid19 vaccines had to be dumped last year. If the low turnout for the flu shot thus far is anything to go by, expect those jabs to be dumped too.

While the minister has issued warnings, the ministry has to escalate its efforts. And it may have to do so boldly without fear of seeming like a spoilsport. We note the THA's efforts in this regard in reimplementing protocols in Tobago schools and public offices.

Meanwhile, civil society must keep up basic precautions, such as the use of sanitary stations outside premises and appropriate degrees of physical distancing. After all, wasn’t this what the “new normal” was meant to be about?