Since COVID-19 was discovered in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019, the world has lived amid shocks and uncertainties in the face of the multitude of variants that frequently threaten the health of the world's population and that have become a real challenge for the medical science of the present era.
Amid panic, lines to undergo detection testing, places enabled for the inoculation of citizens, religious fanatics and people who refuse to be vaccinated, populations that defy the current state out of weariness, and an indescribable world is what permeates the new panorama to which humanity has been subjected, where covidianity has settled on the world stage, without wanting to leave.
As of November 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) had identified at least nine variants, of which it estimated five to be of concern : Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron, responsible for the increase in infections in several countries.
Omicron is the latest version of the coronavirus that medical science has had to battle in recent weeks and that has once again triggered alarms, causing countries in Europe, the United States, Canada and Asia to return to lockdown and adopt restrictive measures to stop the spread.
Yesterday, the media reported the emergence of "Deltacron," another variant. "Currently, there are co-infections of Omicron and Delta. We have found a variant that is a combination of both," explained Leondios Kostrikis, professor of biology at the University of Cyprus and director of the Laboratory of Biotechnology and Molecular Virology.
So far, Kostrikis and his team have identified 25 cases of "deltacron" and have highlighted that they are more frequent in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 than in non-hospitalized positive cases.
The Dominican Republic has reported record numbers this past week. Yesterday, Saturday, the Ministry of Public Health reported 6,200 new cases in its bulletin number 660. A total of 26,753 tests were processed, for a daily positivity rate of 38.14% and a positivity rate of 20.62% for the last four weeks. According to the report, the country has accumulated 451,185 infections and 4,255 deaths to date. Active COVID-19 cases continue to rise, currently standing at 31,482.
We acknowledge the government's efforts to provide the population with vaccines, which have been the lifeline that has saved the world from a greater catastrophe, especially in a country like ours with poor education and awareness, in addition to the absence of massive and continuous campaigns that remind everyone of the health protocols that should guide this new daily life, to which no human being ever fully adapts.
The Dominican government's new strategy is for the country to continue on its course without measures restricting activities, despite the figures and the reality that in most Dominican families, someone is currently affected by the virus.
It is then up to each individual to assume their own responsibility and that of their neighbor to take care of themselves and others by getting vaccinated, as established by the protocol, keeping their mask on, distancing themselves from elective activities, and carrying out hand washing permanently.
It is not easy to accept this new reality, but let us not allow pandemic fatigue to overcome our sense of duty. The terrible scenes we have witnessed over the past two years, the loss of loved ones we were unable to say goodbye to, and the constant emergence of new variants make it clear that vaccination is the most viable option in the face of the current situation.
