After a few months of solace, we again see a spike in the number of COVID cases. This has now sparked an alarm making it distressing for most of us.  Here comes Omicron.

If we recap this year few countries were on lockdown with flights canceled making travel at a halt. This is not an episode of a number of deaths but preventive measures to be put in place to mutate this never-ending crisis.

In the UAE many of us have taken the jab already but now booster shots are in place that the public will be forced to take. While most of us, usher for the New Year celebrations we wonder how will the public flow be managed in terms of social distancing. On New Year’s Eve, the crowd gets massive with the public so stirred up to watch the fireworks.

This is the time where sanitisations have to again take place with normal routine practices being carried out. Despite all this, there are many who are naive and callous when it comes to taking the safety of themselves and others into consideration. As far as travel is concerned International passengers again flying out to India have to go through travel restrictions especially undergoing a 7 day quarantine period again.

Having said that many of us are still in a quest wondering whether we will be able to travel out next year with the OMICRON that has attacked a few states. What we the public can do and must do is to stay safe, avoid crowds, continue wearing masks and use hand sanitisers more often.

It’s season time and with the weather being pleasant out here there are more chances for the public to fall sick. Practising hygiene is what most of us need to work on and this is even when you are in a public place whether you are in a shop, metro, taxi, clinic, office, hospital, restaurant, mall, or even a grocery store.  It’s not time to bid adios yet to COVID. Hoping and pray that India and another part of the world do not go through another series of lockdowns for months. The ball is in our court. Hands, space, safe.

Mathew Litty,
Dubai