COVID-19 and Us

One thing that has shaken the world right now and has brought the world to a stop is astonishingly not any kind of war or any political crisis but rather it is something so small and minute that it is not even visible to the naked human eye.

Yes, what I am talking about right now is the Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) which is caused by the novel Coronavirus that has been named as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS CoV-2) under viral nomenclature.

This disease, as per scientific research and evidence, originated from the wet food market in the city of Wuhan in the Hubei province of China in December, 2019. As per research evidence, the genetic material of the virus concerned arouse from some gene that is found in bats. This gene from the bats underwent some mutation and then went through some intermediate host, which was pointed out to be pangolins as per research, where the virus underwent further gene amplification and mutations before finally developing human virulency which is the capability to cause viral infection in humans. The virus is approximately 79.6% similar to the SARS CoV-1 that had an outbreak from China in 2002. The virus has spread very quickly throughout the world and has affected numerous countries.

None of the nations and not a single person was prepared for this. The virus has affected millions of people globally and hundreds of thousands of people have succumbed to the virus all over the world. In my country, India, the virus has caused thousands of deaths and has infected more than 1 million people as of now. The worst affected country till now is the United States of America and hence the virus had familiarized us with an evidential proof that not one single nation in this world, no matter how powerful it is, is prepared to face a biological crisis like this one.

Even the strongest nations have fallen prey to economic slowdown and heavy financial losses. The low income countries have been hit in the worst manner possible from the economic aspect.

This virus affects it’s host by reaching it’s lungs and attacking the Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-2 (ACE-2) because of which people with pre existing problems like asthma, diabetes, coronary artery disease or any other cardiovascular or bronchial disease stand at a position of higher risk from this virus. People who are immunocompromised or whose immune system and is weak and people of senile age also have a high level of threat posed to them by the virus. This is because there is no existing vaccine or treatment to fight the virus. The best defense available at the moment is just symptom based treatment methods like ventilation and self immunity.

This virus has the primary symptoms of fever and dry cough. At a more critical stage, the virus has a pneumonic effect on the infected person and causes breathing problems.

This virus can spread from one person to another via touch and it is highly contagious in nature. Let alone human touch, the virus can even spread from contact with any inanimate object that was touched by an infected person. As of being airborne, the virus can travel upto a few feet in the air along with droplets that are released while sneezing or coughing.

We all know that prevention is better than cure and hence, we do the following as our best attempt to keep ourselves safe from this pandemic-

1. Cover our mouth and nose while coughing and sneezing with the help of a handkerchief or napkin and dispose it off or wash it immediately. In case we do not have anything such, we should cover our face using our elbows.
2. Avoid putting our hands into our mouth, nose, eyes or ears.
3. We should wash our hands with soap for a minimum of 20 seconds regularly everyday.
4. We should use alcohol based sanitizers to sanitize our hands and essential items that are brought from outside.
5. We should avoid going out of our houses until and unless it is absolutely necessary to do so.
6. In case we see any symptoms, we should immediately distance ourselves from our family members and seek medical help and consult a doctor.
7. We have to strictly stay away from fake news and myths as they can lethal.
8. We should consume food items that are beneficial for our immune system.
9. We should wear a mask everytime we go out or in front of infected people.
10. Always maintain a minimum distance of 6 feet with everyone.

Some myth busters:

1. There is no proof that the virus will die out due to temperature as the human body temperature is 37°C and the virus can survive in that and even a bit more while having a fever.
2. Drinking alcoholic beverages won’t keep anyone safe from the virus as the concentration of alcohol in such drinks cannot kill the virus and if anyone tries to drink or inject themselves with sanitizers then they will immediately die because the alcohol concentration of such solutions is tremendously high.
3. There is no dedicated treatment method, medicine or vaccine for COVID-19 till now and any news saying that such things exists should be deemed as fake.

Some social responsibilities-

1. We should pay our utmost respect to the people on the front line against this disease which includes doctors, nurses, other medical workers, police officials and essential workers.
2. We should not socially discriminate any symptomatic individual but rather we should report the problem to the medical department for immediate assistance. This may lead to people being secretive of symptoms which would lead to further symptoms.
3. We should do our best to help out poor and needy people in such times in any way possible as they are the worst hit people in such circumstances.
4. If facing symptoms, an individual should take up the responsibility to keep himself or herself from people and immediately seek doctor’s consultation without any fear or tension. This would prevent the person from risking others over acquiring the viral infection.

Hence, we can conclude that over the years, we humans have rather spent more on missiles than on microbes and more on politics than on science which was described by Albert Einstein as a mouse building a rattrap for itself. Yes, politics and weapons are required to maintain world peace but it is high time that we humans should reconsider our financial priorities and also spend a bit more on defense against another species posing a threat to ours because there is no significance of world peace if there are no humans to maintain it.