Male: The Maldives' National Emergency Operations Centre’s (NEOC) epidemiologist Dr Ibrahim Afzal has stated that it is time to learn to live with the COVID-19 pandemic and adapt to the new normal.

In a news brief held by NEOC on Friday night, Dr Afzal said it would not be possible to prevent the virus from reaching other islands. He said what can be done is to minimize the spread of the virus.

Dr Afzal said although the country adopted several strict measures to control the spread of the virus over the past few months, it would be impossible to implement the same measures for a long period of time.

“We should not think at all that we can completely stop the virus from spreading to other islands. What we can do is to minimise the spread of the virus. We can slow down the surges. For instance, if we ban travel to an island for a year, and if the virus is not eliminated in the world, there is still the possibility that it will spread again”, said the doctor.

Dr Afzal said scientists across the globe are painstakingly researching to find a vaccine for the virus and while it might take several days; a year, two or three years for a viable vaccine to be available in the Maldives, only the vaccines approved by the WHO will be used in the Maldives.

“The truth is it will take several days for a vaccine to be available. The vaccines have to be tested, approved, and have to be within the safety standards before it is available across the globe. The reality is, even if a vaccine is available these days, greater health risks might be discovered later due to such vaccines getting approved within a short period of time. For instance, a vaccine was discovered for dengue; however, in the Maldives, it was decided not to use the vaccine without WHO’s instructions. Later, we saw that there were some health issues due to the vaccine and the vaccine is no longer used in the world. Therefore, even if a vaccine is discovered, it might take two or three years for it to reach the Maldives”, warned the doctor.

Dr Afzal said now there is no country that is not affected by the influenza pandemic that emerged years back across the globe. The illness reached the Maldives as well. However, it is a seasonal illness and safety measures are taken in preparation for outbreaks. The doctor urged to pay more attention to cleanliness and modify the lifestyle to prevent illnesses.

“We cannot live in lockdown for two or three years. Therefore, now we have to take precautionary safety measures, modify lifestyle, and make it a common habit to pay more attention to cleanliness, wear masks, wash hands frequently. It is not possible to completely eliminate the disease”, said Dr Afzal.

The doctor said of the over 8 million people that were infected with the virus across the globe, more than half did not display any symptoms, and the threat of the illness is higher for a certain category of people.

Dr Afzal stressed that it is high time to learn to live with the virus and revert to the normal life.

“Can we live without allowing anyone from another island, or without travelling to another island? Can we live such a constrained life for a year or two? If we stay in that way, the whole economy will collapse, and our situation will deteriorate, we might not receive the required medical treatment, and all the businesses will be bankrupt. Therefore, we have to work for resuming businesses and revert to previous economic activities. I feel it is the time to start the journey of normal life”, said Afzal.

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