Covid 19 Reloaded - The Second Wave

 

A month ago the situation was such that many of us believed that the coronavirus has completely vanished from the Earth. We all were so relaxed and careless. The behaviour was as if a pack of wolves was released from the cage. But the fact which cannot be denied was that Covid 19 was not vanished but was only brought under control to some extent with lots of hard work and efforts by the administrators and health workers with honest support from public. But our carelessness and casual approach has brought our lives back to so called 'new normal'. There is a fear of the second wave of Covid 19 pandemic to hit India and has already been a matter of concern in many countries across the globe.
    In India the covid curve which was flattened for sometime has again started to increased tremendously. States like Maharashtra and Kerala are true matter of concern. This can be the beginning of the 'second wave' of the pandemic.
  Second wave is not a scientific word but is used to describe a sudden an serious increase in  number of cases in an area after a period of controlled number of cases. Second wave of many pandemics has been there historically. There is a general belief that the second wave may not be as serious as a previous one with respect to number of death but may be more infections and would be worst for the economy of any nation.
  There have been many believes and reasons for the re-emergence of the virus. Scientifically this could be traced to the variants of the virus. The virus has shown several variants like the UK variant, the one which was discovered in South Africa and the other discovered in Brazil. According to studies this variants have a tendency to spread faster or are highly infectious.
  History records most of the pandemics of respiratory diseases have had a second wave, like the influenza pandemic in 2009, the Spanish flu of 1918. Similarly the corona virus may have a tendency to re-emerge and thus has a second wave.
  There may have been some administrative faults which would have led to the second wave like the complete unlock WHO's guidelines say that the unlock has to be done in stages, which may not be implemented properly in some areas. Whereas the opening of flights and local trains could also be a major reason for the transmission and carrying the new variants in India. Reopening of schools and offices could also have boosted the transmission. Moreover the declaration of elections in number of areas right from the gram panchayat level and the fact that cannot be denied the Farmers' protest and number of protest in various states could have been the reasons. Lack of implementation of policies and orders has always been a matter of worry in Indian Administration.
  The coming of winter could also have been a possible reason. Winter is an abode for infections and with weak immunity many have been exposed to the virus also in the western countries which experience snowfall, indoor gathering are held during winter which in turn transmitted the virus leading to the deadly second wave.
  India is a country which provides freedom of religion and worship. There have been a number of protest for the re-opening of places of worship and to protect the religious sentiments, it was approved to open them. Large number of pilgrims visited these places. Also the period from December to February has witnessed number of festivals like Lohri, Pongal, Sankranti, shiv-jayanti, birthday of Iman Ali etc. which was celebrated with huge gatherings and can be held responsible for the second wave.
All in all the casual approach and carelessness of citizens can be the reason for the re-emergence of virus. Where earlier everyone was made compulsory to wear a mask, after the unlock hardly anyone care for it. Each one of us could used to carry a bottle of sanitizer but we had almost forgotten about it and if the unlock was made for us to meet each other, the social distance seemed to be mocked up in crowd.
  This could have been prevented. We would have stopped the second wave. It could have been possible if the lockdown was lifted in stages and by consequence and consideration. It would have been possible if the precautions like wearing a mask, sanitation and social distancing were followed by each one of us and if we would have made the 'new normal' a part of our lives and behaved as responsible citizens. If the international and interstate travel would have been correctly supervised. If the methods of isolation, testing and tracking would have been used continuously.
  Many believe that the virus was controlled because the herd immunity was built but the truth is that the herd immunity was found in pockets only. It would have been possible if each one of us cared for ourselves and our family. It would have been possible if the alternative functioning of schools and offices would have been made compulsory and if complete unlock was done only after 70% vaccination .i.e., after having built the herd immunity. The second wave could have been prevented only if each individual would have understood his or her responsibility and support the administration.
  But it is said that Mankind learns from experiences. This second wave may not be the last one but if we do not repeat our dids then surely it can be the last one. So let us all be firm that we would take all the necessary precautions and prevent the transmission of the virus. The war against the corona virus is almost to an halt, so lets support CoWIN .i.e., Winning Over COVID-19, the vaccination programme by the government of India and get ourselves vaccinated and move ahead with all the precautions. 

"Prevention is better Than Cure"