Dengue has been a killer in these parts a lot longer than Covid yet such was the rush with which the latter overtook the entire world over the last year or so that most people just forgot about the former. Until, that is, it came back with a vengeance not seen in the old days. Now, just as the country was breathing a sigh of relief at having successfully overcome the fourth and delta waves of the coronavirus, medical facilities are coming under backbreaking pressure once again; but this time because of dengue fever. Nobody wants to go back to the old days when hospitals had run out of space, pharmacies had to sit with empty shelves, and blood platelets became the most cherished commodity on the market. And while dengue is mercifully not contagious like Covid, the one thing they do have in common is that both need pre-emptive care to avoid, for which every individual must take responsibility. And the SOPs to keep safe from dengue are much simpler. All you have to do is not go out at certain times of the day; or keep yourself nicely covered if you must. Yet, just like in the case of Covid, all sorts of warnings from government departments, health agencies as well as media outlets seem to fall on deaf ears. For people can be seen all over the place, falling over themselves as they blatantly disregard all sorts of SOPs; both covid- and dengue-related. It makes matters worse that this year’s dengue outbreak seems more lethal than previous ones because the ratio of people dying is greater this time. Unless people fall in line and follow safety protocols, the government would simply be forced to shut down public places at certain times of the day, and then everybody would be inconvenienced. It’s much better, then, for everybody to follow the right instructions and make the right decisions right now, before the situation gets and worse and, in addition to a lot of people dying, the economy also has to suffer. *