COVID days

Time is relative or is it?

It feels like this happened eons ago but it had just been 6 years. The theory of relativity feels real and relatable. Looking back I remember some bizzare events which feel unreal today. One of such is COVID-19 pandemic.

We had just entered the year 2020. A lot of theories were being thrown around - I guess that is the deliverable of the astrologers, though none of them predicted the real future. Within a few days, a news circulated 'An unknown viral infection is spreading in China. This infection is contagious. It has no cure or vaccine. It is lethal. Most people who had contracted it have been dead.' This infection was called COVID-19 (Coronovirus disease; 19 indicating the beginning of the outbreak in the year 2019).

This was just a beginning. Influencers needed a viral topic and they had just hit the jackpot with it. Influencers who had no medical degree (or no degree in some cases) or any understanding of medical issues became the 'voice of people' and started making content about this disease. They had no verified or real information. But having a lot of social media following, a camera, and a mic, gave them the freedom to speak whatever they wanted. Some of them decided to take a route to believe in the outbreak and instil the fear; while others decided to deny the occurence of it. Either of the group was not found to be helpful.

In the month of January, most countries did not act much strictly towards it. However, checks at the airports began. Every country was ill equipped to carry out checks because it was the first time when this infection has occurred in human beings (it was known to occur in bats, but it had never been transmitted to humans). The checks mainly included body temperature and oxygen saturation levels.

Then came February. The cases of COVID-19 were on rise. The infection had started spreading in other countries. Some unverified reports of infection were reported in India as well. Checks were now being performed at every public space. Any person having cough, cold, or fever was treated like an offender.

In this chaos, despite being from a paramedical field, I was chill. From what I had read, COVID-19 was a lot similar to influenza. Similar symptoms and similar outcome. Many other healthcare professionals like me too had shared same views. I remembered my colleague telling me, "who wants to die of cold and cough? Death should be caused by some serious illness" (healthcare professionals have dark sense of humor).

I was still carefree and roaming without a mask till the mid of March 2020. I only started taking it seriously when I learnt that elderly are at greater risk of contraction and complications. Thinking about my parents, I started taking a few precautionary measures. What I had read from medical journals was still telling me that this infection was not as serious as it has been made. It was not the monster it was portrayed to be. Soon I was going to learn I was wrong.

The month of March started. It was going to be the month that was going to change the entire course of history. It was going to be the month when the world was going to be at a standstill. It was the month when the world froze. It was the month when humans had finally surrendered to the invisible entity which was not either a God or a ghost. Humanity finally surrendered itself to a microbe that was not visible to the naked eyes. That microbe was called SARS-CoV-2 virus.

At the month of March begin the restrictions all over the world had become more stringent. The tests were being carried out on all the travellers irrespect to of whether they had travelled internationally or domestically. Everywhere the discussions towards infections, safety, hazards, and possibility had been started. Corporate have been discussing their business continuity plans mainly thinking about allowing their employees to work from home.

In the first week of March there was the festival of Holi. Due to the growing concerns towards safety and gathering a lot of organisations had cancelled their Holi celebration. A lot of society complexes as well decided to not celebrate Holi on a large scale. The gathering for Holi had been halted. The panic was everywhere.

The panic over the infection was not mainly towards the signs and symptoms of it. People were mainly scared because of the isolation and the quarrentine. The fear of being separated from the family was something that was bothering each and every person. The fear of transmitting the infection to the family members was another major health scare. By this time everyone had realised that the threat is real. The hospitals where getting filled with covid patients. The deaths were all time high. It had actually started looking like the beginning of the pandemic. It had started looking like the beginning of the end.

I was still not as scared as others around me. I still believed that it is going to be a seasonal infection and would go away after a few days. I was still under the impression that an unnecessary hype and panic is being created towards this infection. However the effects of the pandemic were not to be ignored.

The roads had started becoming quieter. People had started avoiding densely populated and crowded areas. The theatres were running empty because the viewers were scared that they may catch the infection in the closed spaces. The supermarkets were being flooded because people were preparing themselves for the upcoming lock downs. The elderly were forbidden to leave their houses and were confined to their homes.

We were in the middle of the March and advisories had started pouring. In my office we wear informed to avoid visiting any ill or old people because we may be the carriers of the infection. It looked like things were getting serious.

However it was date of 22 March 2020 that changed the entire picture. The day of Taali and Thali was marking the beginning of enhanced restrictions.