As the Covid-19 pandemic swept across the globe, the world is trying to mobilise its resources to battle it, including insisting on doing simple things like washing hands and sanitising objects touched by people frequently. We are now washing our hands frequently with soap. And when we don’t have soap, we use alcohol-based sanitisers to disinfect our hands. Retail shops and offices spray disinfectants on products, shelves, seats, etc. Airline and mass transit companies are also employing massive use of disinfectants.
We indeed have no other choice than use such measures to contain the pandemic. Nevertheless, the response to Covid-19 is creating another wave of super pandemics. CBS News had reported, “Experts estimate that 700,000 people die around the world each year from drug-resistant “superbugs,”” and the numbers are expected to rise sharply. Such “superbugs” are the result of the prolific use of antibiotics. This results in the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Infections may no longer be treatable in a world where antibiotics are profusely misused.
More than 60% of the population in some areas carry multidrug-resistant bacteria in their normal bacterial flora. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that antibiotic-resistant bacteria and fungi cause more than 2.8 million infections and 35,000 deaths in the United States each year. Every 11 seconds, someone in the United States gets an antibiotic-resistant infection, and every 15 minutes, someone dies.
It is not just the antibiotics that create “superbugs,” but also the recent profuse use of disinfectants. Scientists have warned that hospital disinfectants are losing their effectiveness against “superbugs,” with bacteria learning to adapt to survive and becoming “more tolerant” of alcohol-based hand sanitisers.
Jesus prophesied that shortly before His return, there would be famines, pestilences, earthquakes, and many disasters (Matt. 24:7). Covid-19 represents one of those pestilences. But our response to it may be making the situation worse leading to the emergence of super pestilences we knew were coming. While fighting the virus, we are simultaneously creating a new breed of bacteria. The world is heading towards an era of “super pestilences,” which the scientific community was predicting for some time. The Bible foretold all these centuries before. All of these are part of the signs of the imminent return of Jesus Christ.
