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| Life In The Days of Covid-19! |
Tags: lockdown, isolated, covid, novel corona virus, world, country, cities, infection, fatality, doctor, asia, american, european, monitoring, healthcare, testing, equipment, death, pollution, connectivity, technology, dictatorships, monarchies, democracies, autocracies, manufacturing, factories, travel, air, sea, road, rail, cruises, transport, communities, survival, humanity, medical, smartphone, cars, planet, healing, HIV AIDs, SARs, MERs, ebola, nature, deadly, incubate, asymptomatic carriers, lifesaving, ozone, aviation, vehicular, industrial, genetic, tuberculosis, pandemic, wuhan, china, nightmarish, crisis.
It is nearly
a month that we are in country-wide lockdown and essentially isolated in our
homes. Though the novel corona virus (Covid-19) has hit the world much earlier in
late 2019, we are only now experiencing its full impact right at our door-step. The emerging
picture is quite scary and devastating with millions across the world getting infected
and high fatalities! What is heart-breaking is that the near and dear cannot
even see each other through this dismal experience! The deaths are not typical
and are occurring across in 1st world to 3rd world countries.
At this point
of time, for inexplicable reasons, Asia (unlike its American and European
neighbours) appears to be insulated from the worst that the virus could inflict
in terms of infection and fatalities. Of course, this could be owing to lack of
proper monitoring systems and data. While it is being said that most people
dying are those with co-morbidities and elderly, yet it is also the case that
several of them are also healthy citizens. It is clear that the virus does not
discriminate!
As is now
widely evident, without any preamble, the world has undergone a deep and
radical change in the way it operates. In the last century, we have not seen
anything like what is unfolding now. It is all the more worrisome that it is
happening in a world that prides itself on fast connectivity and advanced
technology! A huge chunk of the world’s population is in various stages of
lockdown. Most people are being asked to stay at home and isolate themselves.
Borders of countries have been shut down irrespective of the type of governing
systems ranging from dictatorships, monarchies, democracies, autocracies et al.
Wherever
possible, if at all, people are being asked to work from home. Hard core
manufacturing has winded down. All kinds of travel have literally come to a
standstill. Air and sea travel have become non-existent. Cruises have become
undesirable as they are fertile breeding grounds for corona virus if even the
slightest infection is onboard. Rail travel and road travel have ground to a
halt too. The roads are unbelievably empty and these days. Cities are bearing a
deserted look as if they are ghost towns. Travel, where it is still happening,
is largely to transport essentials much needed for communities to survive while
they are isolated and for medical assistance. All this would have been
unbelievable and unthinkable a while back but sadly, it is the reality that we
are now experiencing! In a nutshell, humanity has been brought down to its
knees!
The situation
is such that across the world, people are looking forward to summer in the hope
that it will dissipate the virus. In this context, air-conditioning is being
reduced as it is believed that virus spreads easier in it. Under the radically
changed circumstances, we have been shocked out of the excesses of our consumerism.
Previously, the mantra was not about what is actually needed but what you could
be swayed into through various modes of persuasion like advertising!
Take an
example of the number of smartphone models that come out of the stable of every
smartphone manufacturer on yearly basis! If you look closely, there is not much
difference in the models year on year. More importantly, you hardly use the
full features of the smartphones. Yet you are persuaded to replace your
smartphone as frequently as possible. Similar is the case with cars. How many
cars do you need and how big should they be vis-à-vis the actual passengers
they carry and the road infrastructure? Yet, you are encouraged to keep
changing them as frequently as possible! Our shallowness and lack of depth has
allowed runaway consumerism which has plundered our economic health but more importantly,
the health of our planet! Another crystal clear example are our celebrities,
the rich and powerful. While some of them are worth respecting, most of them
are not. Even in these dire circumstances, they keep trivializing the events in
multiple ways!
Anyways, we
should remember that the corona virus is not the first deadly virus that we
have seen in recent times. It will not be the last either! Our memory will
recall HIV AIDs, SARs, MERs, Ebola and many others. However, what is different
with the novel corona virus is its highly contagious nature and its clinging
nature not only in passing infection from human to human but also through high
touch surfaces such as metal, plastic and glass. Worse, while we have seen many
deadly viruses, yet this time, humanity has been caught napping and with its
pants down in its preparations.
Even after
many months of becoming aware of the corona virus infections, we still do not
seem to know enough to make a difference in handling, containment and curing
ourselves from it. Our frontline workers who are our angels and saviours –
their numbers are not enough to deal with the staggering number of infections
across the world. They are being overwhelmed with poor infrastructure and lack
of protective equipment! To add fuel to the fire, they are themselves getting
infected. Sometimes, without their knowledge, they are becoming the
super-spreaders of the virus. Add to this, the huge equipment shortages like personal
protection equipment (PPE) and ventilators and you have a perfect recipe for
disaster!
A trend has
also been noticed wherein the virus appears to have a normal infection rate for
a period of time giving the false impression that it is being brought under
control - before it explodes and rises exponentially! It is like the calm
before the perfect storm! The virus can incubate several weeks without
exhibiting any kind of symptoms giving a false picture that all is well when it
actually is not! Such infected population become asymptomatic carriers. This defeats
our monitoring equipment and scientists have had to devise newer methods and
mechanisms to detect and contain the virus.
In the
developed countries, the crisis took an ugly turn as we did not pay heed to the
warnings emanating from Wuhan of China. We blissfully chose to ignore the
nightmarish scenario emerging right in front our eyes and noses. Compounding
it, the political systems in China are not known for their transparency thus
feeding speculations of cover-ups and data fudging. Without accurate data, the
rest of the world which should have been better prepared, did not do so.
Obviously, it was convenient for us until the pandemic hit us right in the
face!
Our
healthcare systems over the decades have seen critical staffing and lifesaving equipment
being cut drastically! Further, one would think that medical coverage for all
would be a reality in developed countries but that was a far cry from the
truth! The countries that could afford it, chose to abandon their duty to their
citizens. In that scenario, it is an absolute nightmare for an ordinary citizen
without proper or no medical coverage to wade not only through the health
aspects but also the financial aspects.
The situation
was not any better in third world countries. They have to contend with poor ratio
of healthcare workers to general population, inadequate healthcare systems /
infrastructure, resources crunch. Owing to these factors, the means are insufficient
to purchase healthcare equipment required for containing the pandemic in their countries.
This includes personal protection equipment (PPE) like masks and suits for
healthcare workers and testing kits for detecting Covid-19 infection. In the
absence of adequate PPE and testing kits, we are risking high rates of
infection and increasing number of super-spreaders through doctors and
patients.
Strangely, it
would seem, against all odds, that third world countries have lesser infections
and fatalities but that is again a mirage. Perhaps, the full extent of the
pandemic is not recorded for lack of proper healthcare infrastructure, testing,
monitoring and analysing systems. Or the pandemic is still unfolding. Or just
may be, the citizens of these countries are used to handle such crises compared
to their Western and European neighbours. There have been theories on this
including one about the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine (administered to
millions of children soon after birth to protect against tuberculosis) could
protect against Covid-19 and another about how Indians are less susceptible to Covid-19
due to their special genetic makeup (owing to a particular RNA protein that
makes them less vulnerable to novel coronavirus). Yet, all these remain to be
proven through hard evidence. To put it simply, we do not know enough and only
time will tell!
At this point
of time, there is no vaccine or cure for the deadly and highly contagious virus
and this paints a grim and dismal picture of the days to come! Given the
mutations that viruses undergo over a period of time, even vaccines are not a
permanent solution! Therefore, the only longlasting solution is for humanity to
live in harmony with nature as we did long long ago!
If humanity
does not change its nature busting ways, then we are all in trouble
permanently! Without any thought and only motivated by greed and selfishness,
we have been sending millions of species into extinction, spreading recklessly
and destroying animal habitats, demolishing the green cover of our planet and
have been inviting onto ourselves numerous viruses currently existing in
wildlife and dangerous to humanity through our wet markets and destruction of
wildlife habitats. We have also been breeding insanely without any containment
and proving a deadly risk to our planet Earth!
The resources
of our planet, like water, are no longer sufficient to meet our needs. Our
crazy methods have led to severe damage to the planet and unleashed multiple
catastrophic events across the globe like unprecedented wildfires in Amazon and
Australia, tornadoes, earthquakes, rapidly melting glaciers, category 5 storms,
tsunamis, floods and droughts, to name a few. We are around 7 billion of us and
still growing! How long can the planet sustain us if we are not in synchrony with
the planet?
Even worse,
despite the so-called prosperity in the world, social disparities have never
been this stark and fatal! How can we call ourselves prosperous and advanced if
we cannot eliminate stark economic inequalities? A majority of population do
not have access to basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, education and healthcare!
A very minuscule percentile of the world’s population controls the majority of
the planet’s resources! This is nothing short of obscene and vulgar and we allow
this?
Seeing all
this, sometimes, one wonders who is the true virus - perhaps humanity itself
and the viruses like Covid-19 are perhaps nature's way of reacting, responding
and resetting the equilibrium of the planet. We still do not know conclusively
on what destroyed the dinosaurs but if we do not mend our ways soon, then it
may lead to our very extinction and the end of the age of Anthropocene!
The
interesting part is that not all of it is a gloomy picture. The biggest positive
is that our planet apparently is healing itself. As per experts, the ozone
layer is repairing itself. The layer of pollution common across the world,
especially in major cities, on account of industrial, aviation and vehicular
pollutants, have come down drastically and can be even seen in satellite
pictures. It is a great relief to be able to breathe far cleaner air and see
clearly across the horizon without our sight being thickly impacted by the haze
of pollution.
Our views of
the night sky that we remember nostalgically from our childhood have returned! Our
water bodies, namely our rivers, that are our lifeline are actually displaying
signs of increased health as industrial and human pollutants reduce
significantly. We can hear clearly birds chirping away merrily, something we
have forgotten in the sound pollution that is our everyday life. It is now
becoming a more expected sight to see wild animals reclaiming land including
human habitats.
One common
lifesaver in this entire episode still playing out is that the internet has
turned out to be a lifesaver. It has allowed us to stay indoors to contain the
pandemic while at the same time, allowing us to stay connected. Through it, students and teachers have been
able to move learning online. In many ways, the crisis has contributed to
intensified innovative thinking. Collaboration has truly taken a new meaning. It has proved to us that you do not to always travel to do various activities. Even after the crisis passes, the likelihood
is high that the world will be forever changed in the way we work, probably for
the better and how we conduct our social interactions.
We have
rediscovered the beauty of home food, which is far healthier for our bodies
than junk food. It naturally contributes for a healthy lifestyle. And let us
not forget the most important of all – hygiene. The significance of hygiene is
now drilled into our minds and hopefully, it sticks throughout our lives. And
yes, we are now familiar with new terminology, thanks to Covid-19 such as social
distancing!
