Corona has gripped the world by shock and disbelief. What we did not see coming even a month or two back, quick and virulently, engulfed the world in pain and distress, in a matter of days. Even the most developed countries, like the USA far from being spared, have been most affected, leaving all science and technology scurrying for answers.
Whatever predictions one might quote today, it was never anticipated, and not even in anyone’s wildest of dreams, that the world could or would ever come to a halt. Call it world shut down for renovation or earth closed for maintenance, sorrow, panic and anxiety has overtaken almost the entire world, forcing its population to remain indoors, as never before. For believers and perhaps even for unbelievers, it has displayed men’s frailty and helplessness before someone mighty and invincible. The virus has brought even the most powerful and belligerent to their knees, as nothing else did before.
Whether the earth has unleashed its wrath on its inhabitants or God is bringing us to our senses, the humanity is paying a very heavy and painful price, especially in countries like Italy, Spain and USA and God alone knows which others may follow. In one city, near Milan, over third of its population was wiped off. Some families lost more than one member. Several doctors and priests too succumbed, after being infected while tending to the dying. Almost everyone died in solitude without the comfort of the near and dear ones and the latter deprived of a last glance of their beloved. Could there be more agonizing moments than these for the dying and worse devastating grief for those they leave behind…?
The only positive aspect of this scary development is that the environment, so badly battered in the last several years, turned out to be the sole beneficiary of this human catastrophe. Nature is surely reclaiming its space. There are already reports of levels of air pollutants and warming gases over some regions showing significant drops, as the virus impacts work and travel: the air is much cleaner, skies brighter, waters much clearer, birds in larger numbers and animals might perhaps find way to their lost spaces. The experiment of “working from home” in force at the moment, not only in Goa and other parts of the country but also the world over, is surely worth being continued, as it will result in decreased traffic, congestion, accidents, pollution, stress and consumption of fuel.
In Goa, there is reportedly a significant drop in OPD and casualty cases in hospitals. While the world heals, perhaps we too are getting healed of the consequences of our misadventures and stresses.
India has so far paid little attention to healthcare. It ranks 184th out of 191 in terms of % GDP spending on health. The last Budget saw a marginal increase in allocation for health sector but that is hardly enough to offset inflation. It has 0.5 beds per 1000 population and 2.3 ICU beds for 100000 people. The dominant share of doctors and beds are in the private health sector, which the poor can’t afford. Perhaps it would be too much to expect the country to have even the minimum infrastructure required in case Covid 19 attacks us with full vigour. But what is surely appalling is the absence of even the rudimentary safety gears for our doctors, nurses and other health workers, who are in the frontline of getting infected while rendering yeoman and humanitarian service to the affected. The Government must take urgent steps in this direction not only in the interests of these selfless individuals but also in their own, as the treatment of the infected could also be severely jeopardized. Mercifully, cases in India are comparatively few and deaths fewer, due perhaps to the resilience Indians seem to have to face health challenges.
It is very unfortunate that PM Modi’s speeches failed to address strategies to contain effects on medical and economic front. They were perhaps more a display of the disdain in which he holds intellectuals and experts and the contempt he has for scientific thinking.
With industries closed, production stalled, cuts in jobs and salaries and consequent revenue decrease, one shudders to think what will be the fate of our already much battered economy. Surely, we need to hope for the best, but with a Government which has paid little attention to the plight of the poor, the migrants, the daily wage workers, the jobless, the farmers and, in short, all the marginalized sections of our society, let us pray we are not in for a spate of suicides, murders and deaths by starvation or other diseases.
With the need to unite and cooperate with the Government in confronting this calamity with courage and determination we could overlook flaws and blunders committed by our local Government. However, its Ministers, MLAs, officials and agents ought not to behave in a irresponsible manner, prejudicial to the interests of the people and derive undue advantage by using such opportunities to ingratiate themselves to the electorate or their favourites. The Government needs to have a rethink on the so-called survey. If the CM is unable to think that this could put people at risk, he should consult doctors and experts and not impose his own decisions, which have already proved detrimental to Goans.
Goa has always been blessed and now too, in having perhaps the least number of cases in the country and not a single death, so far. As we commemorate the Passion of Jesus and the joyful event of His Resurrection, let us all, particularly we, Catholics, pray that just as Jesus was victorious over death, we too, irrespective of what religion or status we belong, be victorious in our fight against this deadly pandemic.
(The author is a
retired Banker)
