Despite Covid-19 setback, I feel life is normal

A question that made rounds till recently as to whether we were transitioning into a world where we would live with the coronavirus pandemic seems to have faded as life started returning to normal in most parts of the world.

People are now able to move on with the horrendous virus being kept in a minimum transmission. There is a significant degree of normality from the terrible burden that all of us had been through over the last two years.

And what we find today, as many researchers describe is an incredible optimism and hope on the faces of people as they started moving freely on being comforted by the low number of hospitalizations and deaths from this virus. Definitely, the storylines became more positive with rapid roll-out of vaccines,

Most countries with exceptionally high vaccination rates have already lifted restrictions. The Sultanate of Oman is no exception with the seedlings of sanguinity sown inside both citizens and residents with all of them collectively thinking, “Oh, this is what life is supposed to be ''!

Like many others, I too believe that we’re closer to normalcy although we’ve got a lot more work left to be done. I believe in optimism, for being hopeful about the future albeit the fact that I am one of the victims of the dreaded infection.

Because I’m trying to look at the bright side of a terrible situation that I had undergone this time last year when I fought for life in a hospital’s intensive care unit as my case of Covid-19 was so severe that I had been placed in a medically induced coma for several days.

My life came close to dying several times while in the intensive care unit as I suffered multiple organ failures. I struggled to breathe as my lungs filled with fluid due to acute pneumonia caused by the virus. The ordeal left me gaunt and weak. I lost 26 kilograms during my 46-day stay in the hospital. The muscles in my legs had diminished so much that I struggled to walk two paces.

And yet it was the mental impact that troubled me most. The petrifying dreams that I had experienced under sedation continued to haunt me. The delirium was terrifying, I had very disturbing dreams, and as far as I was aware they were real. Adding fuel to my agony and nightmares was the weeks-long isolation!

Finally, I survived the scare and I emerged from the “darkroom” in what medical professionals at the hospitals called a “miraculous” recovery.

The soothing and positive words from my family members, the medics who treated me, colleagues, and friends made my return to life possible. They all still say I am a good fighter as my recovery was rough.

But one thing that I can say is that our spiritual health is just as important as our physical and mental health. When we practice positivity and thanks-giving through prayer, we are taking steps to become more healthy – both physically and mentally.

Now, after two years into the pandemic, things have gotten better. Vaccines, boosters, and prior exposures have dramatically reduced the risk of serious illness and death. Treatments have improved.

But even now, with much of the remaining pandemic restrictions lifted and transmission rates way down, it’s hard to say life feels normal.

Although vaccine-elicited protection and people who’ve recovered from Covid-19 stand as a big wall of population immunity and act as a buffer against likely new waves, there are still vulnerable groups in the society, on whom the Covid-19 still hangs as a domicile’s sword.

With many people now abandoning masks and other precautions as the fears from the virus ebbed and healthy vaccinated people started returning to pre-Covid-19 level activities, they should make and allow the pandemic of ‘the immunocompromised’ and jeopardize their lives.

As an epidemiologist put it, the worst is behind us, and “in this pandemic, you’re always waiting for the other shoe to drop”!