It’s interesting that businesses in the Suva-Nausori corridor have welcomed the Ministry of Health’s decision to implement a total lockdown and restrict movement in their zone.
Suva Retailers Association president Jetesh Patel said the lockdown would make the Ministry of Health’s work easier in flushing out the coronavirus.
Mr Patel said the public should also follow health advice.
“Please take heed and cooperate,” he said.
“This is the only way forward to get out of this crisis.”
When you think about it, it actually makes sense.
In fact a total lockdown should flush out any pockets of those infected by the virus.
Given the incubation period, and the directive for us all to stay home, it makes sense then that if we all adhere to this, it should go a long way towards containment of the virus.
The bottom line though is that we need to stay home.
So if we are able to keep to our own little bubbles, there should really be no way for the virus to spread.
It may be tough on the economy, we accept that.
In the long run though, containment, as the permanent secretary for Health and Medical Services Dr James Fong has always pointed out, matters.
There has to be value placed on this.
Let’s remind ourselves as well, as the good doctor continues to point out, the virus cannot move if we do not move.
It needs us to move for it to spread.
Again, given the fact that we know the incubation period for the virus, the challenge falls back on us to just stay home.
The bigger picture should be our focus right now.
Dragging this forward will mean more people remain unemployed as new cases continue to pop up.
Our border stays closed longer, and our economy continues to take a beating.
In an ideal world, we’d all just want this to go away.
In an ideal world, we’d all stay home during a lockdown so the health experts can flush out the virus, and subsequently, we’d all come out of this better positioned to get our economy back on track.
Unfortunately we do not live in an ideal world and Dr Fong and his team have the unenviable task of finding that very fine balance daily.
It is also unfortunate that there are still some Fijians who find it quite difficult to shrug off the need to share things.
They are still breaching curfew hours and disregard the importance of the lockdown.
However, our challenge is clear.
We can either decide to support the direction Dr Fong wants us to take, or we can disregard good advice and watch our nation slip into the abyss.
There are far too many people struggling to put food on their table daily.
They are frustrated.
They are stressed out.
They feel insecure, and there is uncertainty in their lives.
No one wants to live that way.
They need a beacon of hope.
They need us all to do the right thing, for ourselves, our loved ones, and for the nation.
Please stay home!
