The Coronavirus Scare

Opinion | In January 2020 a new strand of Coronavirus was found in the city of Wuhan, China. The virus causes a disease in humans termed as COVID-19. The symptoms for the disease are generally mild but can get severe, mostly in elderly people. The virus doesn’t get its severity or deadliness from its symptoms, they cause a bit of agony for sure, but it gets it from the rate by which it spreads. 

The coronavirus is highly contagious and spreads at a far greater rate than the Influenza which makes it that more deadly. The threat is not from the treatability perspective of the virus but is from large number of patients asking for the treatment at the same time. When a large portion of a country's population falls sick at the same time, no matter how efficient it's healthcare system is, it crumbles in some point of time. An overwhelmed healthcare system has to choose between patients who get treatment. This is really a sad and scary situation for us as well as the healthcare workers.  

Yes, coronavirus is spreading at an alarming rate. Already declared a pandemic it took 68 days for the first 100,000 people to get infected, and took just 11 days for the next 100,000 infections. What’s more scary is that it took just 4 days to get to 300,000 infections and now its infecting a 100,000 people in 2 days or less around the world.   

With vaccine as far as 18 or more months away and daily rise in cases at an unnerving rate, most of the countries have taken drastic steps like complete lockdowns to contain the spread of virus. India has its population of 1.3 billion in a lockdown fearing the community spread of the virus because of the comparatively poor healthcare system to counter it. But an unprepared though necessary shutdown has led to a mass exodus of migrant workers to their respective villages largely state of Utter Pradesh and Bihar fearing the unprecedented and uncertain situation the country is in. With no savings and no place to live the fear of sleeping hungry is haunting these workers.  

All the economies are at a prompt halt and there's no hope for a vaccine anytime soon, a sense of anxiety and panic has gripped the entire world. Fear is not only about getting infected but also of unknowingly carrying the virus to their more venerable loved ones. Some owning a small business are anxious about their livelihood going forward. The virus hasn't spared the wealthy even the royals. From the Prime Minister of UK Boris Johnson to Prince Charles have been tested positive for COVID-19.  

But one thing is for certain that we are in this all together and for a long time. None of our life will be the same once we get out of this crisis for better or for worse. And there’s a strong possibility maybe in future we do get infected by the virus. So, it's completely natural to be afraid, no matter which age group you belong or what kind of financial status you have. We are all afraid of the change and agitation the pandemic has brought to our lives.  

It's all in our hands in right now, literally in our hands. Together we can flatten the curve and hope that the virus makes a lesser impact than it has predicted to make. Let the fright make you take the situation more seriously. You can give more to the society by being selfish at staying at home in these awful times.

We all are part of a major historic event and the way we handle it will define our future. Stay at home and stay healthy for the society.