SUNDAY, APRIL 21, 2024
Alexandre Moniz Barbosa
It is a war that is being fought out there across the globe, and we each have to play our part. This battle, against the tiny novel Coronavirus, cannot be won by doctors and nurses and armies, but will be won by the efforts of everyone. And this is the reason why the entire country will pause this Sunday in an attempt to break the COVID-19 contagion chain. As 130 billion people stay put at home today, they will do so with the hope that the reduced movement on the streets will lead to a major step in containing the spread of the virus in the country. But this is just the beginning in the war against the virus that could last for weeks or months. Across the world countries are struggling to cope with the escalating number of cases that after a certain stage start increasing geometrically, and when controlling it becomes difficult. This, therefore, calls for some concerted efforts to defeat the virus.
Controlling the current crisis, as United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres recently said, is a shared responsibility. “We are in this together, we will get through this together,” the Secretary General stated. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal for social distancing was on similar lines, especially when he said that, “Complacency in respect of a global pandemic like Coronavirus is not appropriate. It is essential that each and every Indian remains alert and cautious,” and he then asked for a few weeks of Indians. The first step is the ‘janta curfew’ of Sunday, and the result of this will be known soon. Hopefully it will be positive.
The country is in a crucial period when it will know whether the virus is spreading through local communities or not. Most people are Internet savy and there are various sites in the cyber world that show how COVID-19 is affecting countries. One just has to look at the graphs of the contagion in the countries to realise that India is at that very critical phase when the almost flat line takes a curve and very rapidly climbs very steeply. It has happened with every country that has been plagued by the virus, which makes it all the more important to exercise extreme caution.
An explosion in the number of cases will determine where India stands, so all care is required. Goa has been safe from the virus until now. So, while other States and countries attempt to supress the spread, it has to be our effort to prevent it from entering the State. In that, restricting the traffic across the borders will play a major role, but little can be achieved if the people do not cooperate. Goa has gone into a virtual lockdown, but much depends on the people and how they respond to the advisories of the government. In many ways, the seriousness of the disease has still not penetrated to all sections, and there are instances of people not yet being fully alive to the situation. Herald received calls over the last few days on whether it was absolutely necessary to maintain the ‘janta curfew’ on Sunday, to which the answer was that yes, it will help.
In other instances, there have been conversations overheard that show how people are grasping at any suggestion that could help them avoid infection by the virus. A couple was walking on the road in Panjim when one spouse stepped on to the pavement, it immediately led to a reaction from the other who said, ‘walk under the sun, it will avoid coronavirus’. The spouse on the pavement stopped and said, ‘what?’. The one on the road and standing in the sunlight repeated the observation, which was quickly dismissed. The couple carried on walking, one on the pavement in the shade of the building, the other on road, allowing the sun to do it job of killing any viruses. This conversation possibly resulted from the news going out that the virus does not survive for long in high temperatures. The most important, however, is avoiding close contact with others and maintaining social distance.
The reason, perhaps why many fail to understand the seriousness of the disease is that we have not encountered such a situation in the past. We have learnt of plagues in classrooms from school books, and read of the thousands that died from these diseases, but those were just notes in history that had to be memorised for the exam, and not lessons to be learnt that could be someday put to use. Who ever thought that one day in the 21st century, the people would be getting lessons on how to wash their hands and on maintaining hygiene? Our childhood dreams for the year 2020 would surely not have been made up of this. And, while this goes on, Goa that has now entered into an important phase of fighting the entry of the virus, and it could have been on the ball a lot earlier.
Goa could take a leaf from the Mumbai dabbawalas to be proactive. As India entered a partial shutdown on the fears of a spread of COVID-19, and even before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation calling for cautions, one of the most significant of decisions taken was perhaps that of these dabbawalas who suspended their services till March 31. Restaurants may close, go on strike even, but the dabbawalas have been known to deliver the lunch boxes to the right desks across the metropolis against all odds. The only known time these tiffin carriers have struck work was in 2011, to support Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption campaign. The current decision of theirs is a reflection of how seriously the war against Coronavirus is being taken in the country.
That same seriousness should be applicable to all Goans. Stay home on Sunday, avoid unnecessary travel during the coming week, and wash your hands. The government has already asked for the postponement of even weddings. If a couple who has been planning their wedding for the past year, can make the big sacrifice of pushing forward the date, can’t the rest of the people make the smaller sacrifice of avoiding stepping on the streets unless it is absolutely necessary?
