Published work. Health. Corona virus.

 

Indeed, Coronavirus is probably the worst thing since the Black plague. Hundreds of thousands of people have been affected worldwide, and the number is growing by leaps and bounds every day. No government seems to have come out with a viable antidote, and reports say there is at least a six month wait period before a remedy can be declared. What is the world to do until then? People are getting infected and even dying. Especially the older people are facing the brunt of the disease, as their immunity levels are low, and they are succumbing to the infection. The disease was first identified in the Wuhan district of China from where it spread worldwide, and now except for Antarctica, no country in the world is free from this virus.

 

Countries are desperately trying to flatten the curve of the number of infected people in the hope of containing the infection and beat the Coronavirus by increasing the rate of recovery over the rate of infection. Something that may work for a while but cannot be the ultimate solution. Developed nations like the USA and Italy are staggering under the pressure of the number of new infections every day, and the number of deaths keeps rising manifold. It is indeed a very tragic situation, and as the world stays isolated in their houses, it seems like our very abodes are on fire, and the enemy that is now outside can get inside anytime. So many people are suffering from anxiety and depression because of this issue.

 

In India, the scenario is not much different. Although the number of infected people and the number of deaths is not as high as some of the other developed nations of the world. India is huffing under the effort to contain the disease, prevent its spread by raising awareness and imposing a lockdown in the country in all the states.

 

Till now, the most massive hit state in India has been Kerala. The Kerala government, as well as the Indian government, has imposed strict lockdown procedures in the state. Despite that, people are moving outdoors, breaking the 1m distance dictum. Blame that on illiteracy.

 

Shops and businesses throughout the country have been closed down till the 14th of April. Except for the essential transport of essential commodities, the roads have been closed down. The country is getting ready for an apocalyptic scenario, and Prime Minister Mr. Modi has expressed intentions of extending the lockdown further if the situation does not improve. People in India are in a deep confused state because no one knows what's going to happen next.

 

As the death toll increases, Indian people are rapidly taking to the internet and discussing the problems, which is also attributing to the mass confusion and paranoia. There are parts of the country which are devoid of proper rations: food or medical. Doctors are working around the clock in isolation wards tending to the infected. Hospitals are falling short of beds and testing kits. The whole situation is very messed up.

 

In the meanwhile, the typical Indian family is sitting indoors waiting for the social isolation to lift. There is a curfew out on the streets, but the police are allowing people to get necessities like groceries or food from the market or medicine from the pharmacy. There has never been such a testing time for India previously in the recent past.

 

Typical problems that the Indian families are facing right now:

 

i. Food: Food supply has dwindled. There are not enough vegetables or meat in the markets, and I am talking about large cities. Villages have it worse. Whenever there's a supply, people are rushing to the markets and emptying it in anticipation. Resulting in a lot of people not getting enough amounts of food and thus causing them to go to the markets, again and again, thus increasing the risk of getting infected by the virus. Also, essential food items like Chicken or Lamb Meat are not readily available. A lot of shops which used to sell spices have closed down, and now everyone is queuing up at one or two shops, increasing the number of people in a cluster and hence the risk for virus infection.

 

ii. Business: Businesses have shut down. Everyone is working from home. This is causing massive losses to businesses throughout the country. And not every company has the capacity to allow its employees to work from home. In so that, everyone is suffering, and the economy is supposed to dip significantly. Employees are currently working from their home over cloud systems and using voice calls and video calls to take care of their work. It is highly unsuitable and problematic. Everyone has to work extra hours to justify their jobs for no extra pay. People are getting weary working from morning to night, and family time is suffering.

 

iii. Education: Schools and colleges have shut down as well, and classes are taking place in some institutions over the internet over video clients like Zoom. Explaining complicated material over the internet with no teacher training or previous experience is turning out to be a challenge for many. Schools are trying to provide crash courses to their teachers to handle their classes online, but only 60-70% of parents are satisfied with the progress that their children have made in the meanwhile.

 

iv. Maids/Help: India is a country where hiring maids or help is cheap, and hence a lot of people do it. Due to the lockdown and social distancing, every household has had to give their maids full paid leaves. Now everyone in the house has to cook, clean, wash on their own. Which was previously unheard of, and without having been used to it, people are finding it a great difficulty. However, it is right in a way that a lot of people are learning how to be responsible for their work and their mess, and they are developing respect for the kind of work they earlier took for granted had belonged to the maids.

v.Recreation: All shopping malls, restaurants, bars are closed. People have to stay locked up in their homes. Also, to maintain social distancing, friends should not come over to each others' party, according to the Government directive. People are getting bored and frustrated, locked up in their homes, isolated, and lonely. An excellent way to get rid of all that pent up heat is to do video conferencing with friends. A lot of people are doing that and posting photos on the internet. These photos are a lifeboat in these troubled times.

 

So, Indian families like all other families around the world are distraught, vexed, and frightened about what tomorrow will bring. Being locked up in houses doesn't help either; it increases fear, anxiety, and depression. But one good thing that has happened because of this social distancing is that it has brought the family together, people are spending more time with their families than they would have previously. Also, people are doing their work around the house, and learning responsibility for their things, something that didn't happen previously as the maids used to do that work.

 

Everyone is hoping that Coronavirus goes away soon, and an antidote is discovered. Here's to hoping that every nation around the world makes a fantastic comeback in the face of this disaster, and the world starts functioning as good as or better than before.

 

Cheers!