One Virus

What is a Virus?

Well in layman terms – you sneeze or have a runny nose, have a temperature maybe. The doctor recommends some tests with rest and anti-biotics. You take a leave from work and feel down for a day or two. You then return to work and realize there is a lot of pending work and your body copes up with the unanswered emails, busy hours, and the rest.  Also sometimes a virus is also a way or telling people that they need to be aloof, they need some me-time and that their mind and body are worn out and you need a break. That’s a usual virus we all know of.

But who would have thought that the coronavirus, the giant imported virus, which is still threatening us, will have devastating consequences! Consequences that would move you and your world! Consequences that will make people insane! Consequences that will make them stay at home for more than a year! And Consequences that would take a billion lives to an extent that their last rites would not include their own family members burying them or burning their pyre, rather dumping them by men wearing PPE kits layer on layer, treating them as a radio-active waste!

We live in a different world now. The economy has been shaken, a lot of people have lost their lives or seen someone die, they could not even see the deaths of their closed ones! A large amount of people are unemployed or have changed their profession due to Covid because they at some point needed money to eat and support their families. Businesses have incurred humungous losses; a lot of market-sectors are doomed. Everything now is low key and most of us are scared to step out and are comfortable at home. There may have been some positives like spending time with family, Greater use of technology and digitalization, very less usage of petrol, no useless or unnecessary travel, surge in healthcare, financial inclusion etc BUT…

Is it all worth it?

As the word has spread that the cases have reduced, people have started going out, travelling to destinations for vacations etc. Now they might be taking precautions like wearing a mask or sanitizing themselves, but do we realize that 99% of use are still not vaccinated. The risk is the same as it was a year ago. The lockdown still exists. Now the question is when will this be over? Rather when will be able to breathe without masks or stop being a neurotic specially about our parents and children or loved one’s? Will the coronavirus ever end? Well the WHO says early 2022, but is that permanent? The roll out of vaccines is a huge task for the approx. 1.3 billion people in India, with other problems like rising unemployment whereas the government is primarily thinking about GDP. But with that said, per reports, the humidity in the weather (although coronavirus has flared up at different times and different temperatures in the world) and the moisture from the masks might lessen the severity of the virus. We might also achieve herd immunity, who knows! Nevertheless, there are a lot of other challenges that lie way ahead of us and we must collectively and responsibly surpass them. Therefore, it is time to be patient (and not a patient)!

It will end (well maybe) but one must be careful because there are monsters and viruses out there!