It’s almost like normal out there again.
But we mustn’t forget that medical experts still expect a second wave of Covid-19 infections.
We were placed under Level 2 two weeks ago, and the virus takes two weeks to incubate, so it’s fair to expect an increase in cases towards the end of this week.
Things have been looking good for both the country and the Western Cape lately, so much so that the government could comfortably close some of our field hospitals.
Our infection numbers have been evening out and our recovery rate has been increasing steadily.
These are all very good signs and means that we could be out of the woods before the end of the year.
Spring Day tomorrow is the promise of summertime and it would be terrible to go through the Festive Season under any lockdown level, which could end up seeing even the klopse cancelled.
While things are looking encouraging, I have learned a few worrying facts last week about Covid-19.
I spoke to a scientist working on a fast test kit and was told that we might have to learn to live with Covid-19 in perpetuity.
Because the virus is constantly changing, researchers are finding it nearly impossible to pinpoint a single vaccine.
They have also found someone who was re-infected months after recovering from Covid-19, something which we had previously hoped wasn’t possible.
This is confirming the fact that the virus evolves, while showing a variety of symptoms in different people.
I was also informed that because different people react to the antibodies differently, we may end up with several different vaccines to treat various strains of Covid-19.
What all of this means is that we will probably never wipe this thing out completely.
We might just end up having to take regular inoculation shots against it every few months.
It also means that we will remain at risk of contracting it going forward and that means that we will continue to lose our vulnerable loved ones who become infected.
In fact, with businesses forced to re-open (or die), becoming infected is almost inevitable.
What I am trying to say is that it sounds like the Coronavirus has come and changed life irrevocably for every one of us.
Things may never be the same again.
We may have to learn to continue practicing the precautions that keep ourselves and our loved ones safe.
What you see out there, the return to normality, is all just an illusion, because people are tired of staying indoors and of being scared.
But if we want to stay alive, we may be forced to learn to live with the fear of death for long time into the future.