The cookie finally crumbled. June 1, 2020. At Mangor Hill, Vasco, Goa’s first local transmission has firmly entrenched itself. Covid-19 is raining upon us, although it is not a cyclone yet. The usual recrimations have begun, of course, in due earnest. Why did we open so early? Why were SOPs tweaked arbitrarily? Why was testing, particularly of truck drivers coming into Goa with essential supplies, not done more vigorously? So on and so forth.
But the truth of the matter remains that, with the much-needed opening of the Goan economy, some enemy agents were bound to slip under the radar. Have you noticed, however, that Goa is dependent on every single essential commodity from neighbouring States? We are not self-sufficient in anything. All that we produce abundantly is home-grown wisdom (usually after a peg or two), some choice abuses at our self-inflicted fate, and an enormous amount of gas that passes off for politics and activism.
The million-dollar question that confronts us is: How do we handle the situation now? How do we dominate the streets? How do we outwit this wily fox? Can we?
My few meandering, pretty pessimistic suggestions are on the table.
– The worst prescription for the authorities is panic. Chill! Yes, an entire town the size of Vasco, that may need quarantine and testing, is unnerving to say the least. But look at the sunny side. Most of the contacts you are detecting positive are asymptomatic. That bodes well. It gives hope for an early herd immunity.
– I do not know frankly what is the latest central SOP, but this hysterical response of admitting every Covid positive patient mandatorily must be revisited. You are stretching your health resources, flooding beds and frankly achieving nothing. Asymptomatic Covid positives can be safely home-managed. Give them a pulse oximeter, tell them to check oxygen levels regularly. If it drops to below 85 to 90, and if they get breathless, bring them to hospital. Delhi and Mumbai learnt it the hard way and now are keeping asymptomatic patients home.
– Presently, to the best of my knowledge, only the medicine department, led by the indefatigable Dr Edwin Gomes is doing the heavy-lifting during the Covid crisis. Everyone, from the department of pulmonary medicine, ENT, anaesthesia must come on board. In New York, I had my friends from urology and rheumatolgy, and even those who had retired, come in to join the party. All hands were on deck.
– As cases mount, and most certainly deaths occur, there is going to be a physical and mental exhaustion that will set in, in the entire front-line staff. They have to be motivated, well looked after and there must be multiple teams identified, to rotate in shifts. Do that now, not when the party turns berserk.
– Rope in the private sector. There was this ridiculous modus operandi in the metros that in case a Covid positive patient inadvertently got admitted in a private hospital, the whole premise was locked and bolted. Get private hospitals to identify beds they can deploy for Covid, get strict isolation for that area, provide PPE kits and work out a rate that is not exorbitant. I believe the doctors in this time of national calamity will not charge our Amitabh Bachchan rates. But do this with respect and dignity, not accusations, threats and familiar political bullying.
– Lastly, I come to my familiar refrain of individual civic responsibility. We are still so woefully hopeless there. Social distancing is for the cows and masks are for the bank robbers. Everyone is back to being the quintessential, disobedient Goenkar. And I still see plenty of elderly folk, way past their 70s, merrily moving about in public. Sitting ducks was a term designed for you.
Frankly, I am so exhausted by this vicious virus, utterly despondent and depressed, that I malignantly turn on to Trump speeches to keep my sanity alive. At least you can see Trump, the orangutan, and gnash your teeth and go on to spew your bile on him. This virus is completely invisible. And that’s our visible tragedy.
POST SCRIPT
The good news in India is that in India we are seeing a large number of asymptomatic cases, many are recovering and bodies are not really piling up. World over, the only constant had been that this ghastly circus lasts around 12 to 16 weeks in its most brutal form. China has almost got out of jail and they have taken a picnic to Ladakh to trouble us.
Spain, Italy, France are bruised but recovering. The US death rates are petering off, if you discount the number of innocent blacks, hammered by an unjust system. We are done with about, at least 10 weeks.
Another 4 to 6 weeks, let’s hope we are home and dry.
Of course we Indians are so hatke that even this theory may not hold true. But let’s dream on. The monsoon is the season of rainbows after all!
