COVID-19 has brought the world to a standstill, it’s just one gram of virus which is killing lakhs of people around the world. If we look minutely the people who have died of this disease were those who already had some underlying ailments such as heart, respiratory, diabetes, kidney and liver issues. In the past that there were many viruses which were initially very vibrant and as time passed on they mutated and learnt to live symbiotically with the human body, as they would perish with the host body. Thus to survive longer it has to let the host live. So we should understand that even if a vaccine has been invented tomorrow, it will only lower the power of the virus but may not eliminate it permanently. Studies have also found out that this COVID-19 breeds on weak lungs and weak immunity. Hence we need to identify how we can prevent the virus from attacking the weak immune system, so in short the immune system needs to be strengthened.
To do this first of all we need to curb the pollutants in the air and negate the PM2.5 particles. Anything which is burnt and let in the air which is composed of carbon, it may be leaves, wood or plastic is dangerous for the lungs and weakens immunity. It is just not enough to have dietary supplements when it is equally important to stop emitting carbon in the atmosphere in the first place. Lately there had been a directive from the Collectors office not to burn grass and stubble in the field. There are literate people who burn wood for cooking and waste in the fields even in a village like Santo Estevam. You must have noticed during the lock down how mother earth has become clean and green which needs maintenance to stay this way. Some suggestion for the Goa Government are:
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1) Ban all sorts of carbon emissions in the air which is due to wood, grass, leaves and plastic burning. 2) Chulas can be replaced with solar cookers, gas or induction cookers. 3) Breeding of pigs in the residential areas should be banned to control vector borne diseases.4) Ban on spitting in public. 5) Departments such as Goa State Pollution Board, Directorate of Panchayats, and Health should be empowered and given optimum powers to take action on defaulters. 6) Create a proper coordination between different departments in the government as one department is unaware of the rules of other department.
Currently we see the departments passing the buck instead of taking decisive actions. The process for taking action is so lengthy and cumbersome that it just takes ages to take the right decision even after providing evidences.
These steps will ensure clean air which can also give us stronger immunity to counter any viruses in the future. At this point I would like to recollect the famous words of cosmologist Carl Sagan ‘We can’t expect help from any quarters in this vast universe’. The onus is on us to protect this pale blue dot. Once again to reiterate as the virus needs the host to survive, we to need our Earth to survive, otherwise we are no different than the virus. These suggestions have to become the new normal and should remain.
