Corona: Observations, Experiences & Learnings– Part I

Virus from Wuhan, first information

I remember, we were in USA when I first heard about ‘some’ virus which had infected a city in China. It was December 2019 and I hardly took notice of that news item. While one is away from home, one hardly spends time listening to such stories. As days passed, the story started taking graver proportion and news of people infected by a new Virus, dying in large numbers in that city Wuhan, in China, made a daily headline.

Perhaps my knowledge about viruses and the way they propagate, was limited and therefore it did not scare me then. And who bothers in India about viruses? We are people with high immunity and can manage any variety of virus, known or unknown. At least that was the belief. I feel we were confident that world will take care of this virus also like it did of other varieties of Flu with various combinations of H & N, including Bird flu (H1N1), Influenza A (H3N2) and Asian Flu (H2N2).

(For more details about the family of Flu:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza?wprov=sfla1).

But this turned out to be a different Flu. This one was found to be more stubborn. And of different lineage. We learnt a bit later that this was Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the respiratory illness responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. (More on SARS:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severe_acute_respiratory_syndrome_coronavirus_2#%3A%7E%3Atext%3DThe_first_known_infections_from%2Cexpansion_of_the_infections.?wprov=sfla1)

The disease spread like wildfire. The study of how it engulfed the whole world in a span of 4 months is very interestingly described by one newspaper report in The New York Times. The report quality also makes it an impressive reading. This report can be found at:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/22/world/coronavirus-spread.html

Lockdown

As if to prepare the citizens for impending doom, Government gave a call for Janata Curfew on March 22nd, 2020. Perhaps that was also not taken seriously by people. Sudden Lockdown effective 24th March 2020 and fructification of the fear that one will not be able to move out of home and that all businesses will be locked down, except the essential ones, was the starting point of realization about what we were heading for.

 When I reflect on that period of Lockdown 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and so on and then gradual Unlock process  of  1.0,  2.0,  3.0  leading  to  current  5.0  and  the  current  state,  I  find  the  world  has changed and changed drastically.

 Changes I see

Lockdown was necessary from multiple perspectives and it could not have been later. It was required to restrict the spread of virus on one side and was required to enable health care service providers including governments to equip themselves with necessary gears and equipment. I am not sure how much was achieved during these months of lockdown in terms of capacity building but spread would certainly have been retarded.

Lockdown affected those daily rated employees who were suddenly, without any notice or planning rendered incomeless and ultimately homeless. We all are seized of what happened in the country. We would have been happier had Administration shown some empathy and managed the situation better.

Businesses were seen in their true color.  Some paid for the period, if not full at reduced salaries, large numbers raised their hands and left the employees to fend for themselves. Characters are tested in these extraordinary times. I wonder, when the going is great and business is booming, those same businessmen do not pay employees more than their dues, out of their higher profits, but when the business was down, not because of employees’ fault, businesses failed them.

There were individuals who came out to help those masses in time of their needs. Most of us wage earners also did rise above general meanness demonstrated by some of the businesses and paid domestic helpers their monthly wages during those days of immobility. I hope we have learnt lessons and will be able to plan lockdowns better, God forbid we may need to.

The advice that most impacted the society was “maintain social distancing”. I believe this was wrongly coined phrase.  What was meant to be maintained is “physical distance” and not social distance. On the contrary “social proximity” was more required during these times for supporting each other. Communication to educate people that the disease is highly infectious was so much overdone that people started seeing a “killer” in every unknown person coming in vicinity.

Lockdown and resultant confinement to four walls of the house also was against the basic nature of society. Human beings are social animals and keeping them away from society is acting against their very nature. Solitary confinement is a punishment meted out to criminals. Unknowingly the societies and nations were punished by nature, for some society having misbehaved with it. I could see the attempts of making people feel they are socializing by lighting of lamps and clanking of vessels.  Perhaps this aspect could have been better presented.

Changes are perceptible in the way we adapted to new norms of working from home. Suddenly Zoom and Google Meet and Microsoft Teams and so many other platforms found markets. Businesses used these technologies to return to normal. Society used the technology to socialize. Groups found ways and means of connecting and entertaining.

Teachers had to be retrained, more so in our country, to conduct classes virtually.  Some excelled, some are still struggling.  Students learnt use of technology and some may start misusing too. I wonder how would those municipal and government school children must be coping up? Who gave them internet access and hardware to remain connected?

Knowledge about virus, was found to be limited to some scientists and countries. In such a situation every Tom, Dick and Harry posed as a scientist. In absence of an authentic channel for communication, unlike CDC in USA, WhatsApp was used to promote all kinds of news, advices, and products. Some unscrupulous people took advantage of the panic prevailing to sell any concoctions in the name of preventive medicines and immunity boosters. Control was conspicuous by absence.

Learnings

Shall we as individuals, a society, a nation, or the body of nations, learn from this experience or once the vaccine is developed and the virus is controlled, we will be back to square one?

The extent to which the developed, European and American countries have suffered has taught us that all human beings, regardless of their religion, culture, customs, whether poor or rich are equal, when it comes to getting affected by pandemics and the fury of nature.

Businesses have learnt lessons of developing resilience and critical thinking in their cadres. The new norms of work from home have created new challenges of maintaining employee morale and keeping them engaged.  Absorption of technology in all possible processes and training their employees to get equipped is a bonus resulting into speed and efficiency of deliveries.

During these days of lockdown, we developed good habits. We reduced consumerism. We accepted that life goes on without many commodities and luxury. We realized that it is not necessary to be on the roads when not working. We learnt how we can help each other in the family by doing all big and small chores. We also learnt that we could remain together with the family for longer periods and take each other’s care. Shall we continue doing the same when the pandemics is conquered?

Many must have been benefited like I have been, by newfound interests in reading and writing.   Many   would have developed good habits. Many may have developed their professional skills making good use of the time saved due to reduced movement like commuting to workplaces and travels. Shall we maintain that growth trajectory?

The other critical aspect that the pandemics has taught us, is the need to be disciplined, be it using masks, washing hands or maintaining physical distance. Discipline in how we treat nature, how responsibly we conduct ourselves to not only protect ourselves but also fellow citizens and the environment. Unquestioningly following the laws enacted for our good, is a learning all of us must get committed to apply.

Some individuals demonstrated empathy, compassion, and care in such abundance! Those case studies must teach us the most critical human value of sharing and caring. I do hope we continue our good work of supporting the under-privileged and build a caring, empathetic, and compassionate society.

Vaccines

Our travel plans were sent on a spin due to restrictions in force in all countries. It appeared my younger one will have to be on her on to deliver her first child. I named him/ her Atmanirbhar in anticipation. In any case the word was adopted in Oxford dictionary in the annual exercise, thanks to the popularity it had received having been made a focus area by Indian Prime Minister.

Vaccine was awaited with bated breadth since that was the only savior. Pharmaceutical research rose above expectations and many research efforts produced efficacious vaccines in the world. More about vaccines and my experience of getting the first jab to follow in Part II.