“ HAVE WE LEARNT ANY LESSON(S) FROM COVID -19 ? “-DR. ASHWANI K. MALHOTRA
What happens when all of a sudden you are forced to live within the four walls of your house, PG or hostel, without any movement outside for weeks except in a medical or other emergency?
What do you feel when you are left without work or job and when you have to live in constant fear and anxiety, whenever you or some someone close is having fever or coughs and sneezes?
And all due to a microscopic virus that originated in China and spread rapidly infecting and killing millions around the world.
You probably think- kahin mujhe corona to nahin ho gaya ( Will I suffer from Corona too) ?
Ever since the Covid-19 virus struck mankind a year ago and WHO declared it as a pandemic, we all in the world have been affected by the virus and our lifestyles have changed dramatically.
The Covid-19 pandemic has taught many invaluable lessons.
- We have learnt to live in isolation for weeks without physical contact with the outside world.
- We have learnt to be patient and stand in queues.
- We have learnt about coughing etiquette and that spitting, coughing and sneezing in public could help in the spread of the virus and that a mask, physical distancing and avoiding crowded places help in preventing the spread to others.
- We have learnt to cook and clean our homes on our home. Yes we even cleaned our loos!
- We have learnt the meaning of a family and our interpersonal relations with our spouse and children have improved. Now the wife gets so irritated when I poke my nose into the household affairs and she retorts,” sab mard ab kaam pe jaane lage hain. Ek tum ho saara din ghar pe pade rahte ho.( All men have now started working, But you are at home all day.)” How Do I tell her that I have retired and to let me live and relax.
- Our children have learnt to study on their computers. Even I have learnt so much in working on the computer, but I have still to learn a lot from my grandchildren who are more computer savv
- We all have learnt to pursue our hobbies. Yes sir, haven’t we all started painting, singing and dancing. The wife used to watch the recipes on YouTube and make exotic dishes. No wonder my waistline increased and now she pesters me all the time to reduce it.
BUT NO SIR, WE STILL NEED TO LEARN SOMETHING CRUCIAL:
- Even after months, have we really learnt any lessons from this pandemic? No, sorry to say, we are back to our old ways of breaking queues, littering and creating chaos and traffic jams on the roads.
- Even as the World Health Organization has in its latest advisory has advised us to keep wearing masks and maintain physical distance from one another, to avoid the crowded places and to venture out in well ventilated and open areas, I find that people have become complacent.
- The other day when I went to the market on an errand by the wife, I was shocked to see quite a few people neither wearing a mask nor were they maintaining the social distance. When I quipped someone in a shop as to why he wasn’t wearing a mask he replied unabashedly, ” O bauji, sanu corona nahin hunda (O Man, corona doesn’t infect us).”
Visuals and news reports are full of people breaking the norms issued by the Government not only in India but in other countries too!
Though the daily count of corona positives and number of fatalities have decreased, reports from the United States where positive cases in a day exceeded 2 lacs.
The vaccine against Corona virus may just be a few weeks or a few months away, yet in the meantime we must ensure personal safety so that the virus does not spread further.
Dr Ashwani K. Malhotra MBBS, PGDMCH, PGDMLS, is a retired Senior Medical Officer,Punjab Government,and can be reached @M-9417188867 E-mail : ashwini.doc.1954@gmail
30 comments
You have presented the facts quite precisely and in a unique manner.
Really great!
Thank you Dr Chopra for appreciating the effort
Well Said . Tru Facts.
Thanks sir.
I think we humans don’t learn from the calamities and are condemned to repeat it…let’s take the pandemic seriously till the vaccine is available in India…
Dear Mr. Kulvinder, you are quite right that some of us are not taking this pandemic seriously. In fact I have observed that many people do not take their high blood pressure , diabetes or any other disease seriously till it is too late. Precautions are definately better than cure.
Sir , Very well summarized !!!
COVID -19, a massive global crisis needs matching behavioral changes which sadly is missing especially in India. Go to any market place and you will find people milling around as if there is nothing like Covid. People still need to understand the trauma of being put on ventilator or even loosing a dear one.
Great effort by Dr. Malhotra to educate some of us who are habituL of breaking the norms. Concisely written an article worth a read.
I appreciate your concern Mr. Anil Tangri and as you’ve rightly pointed out people are moving around as if covid 19 has been eliminated. Sir, even are political leaders do not follow the norms and pose for pics without masks, throwing the health advisory norms for a toss. Well habits die hard, yet if we all concerned citizens spread awareness on our own, we can certainly control the spread of corona , but other diseases too!
Thank you dear Nikhil
Very informatiry article.
We must understand that we have yet to learn so many things to prevent the onslought of Covid-19.
Freedom from Lock Down does not mean that Covid has diappeared.
We must take all the safety measures required , to contain
it, so much so that we should assume that every person , we come across , is infected with Covid. This presumtion
will go a long way in motivating us to go in for all the do’s and don’ts.
Thank you Mr. Kalia for your invaluable comments. In MBBS we had a subject SOCIAL AND PREVENTIVE MEDICINE. We have realized that in order to control the pread of any disease we must learn to prevent it’s occurence in the first place. Alas! We mortals do not perhaps believe this and say, ” Dekh lava ge jadu bimaar hovage.”
A good effort by you Doctor Sahib,,now people are aware as they are taking protections to avoid corona.. We have to long way to go to understand the value of life of every organism living in this world.lt is give n take , nature is educating us but still we are not doing our job to save anything. Good ☺️ going .
Great sir
Thank you dear Rohit
Always awaiting your articles full of information
Concisely written article worth reading informative and educative.
We must understand that this is not just a public health crisis,it is a crisis that will touch every sector – so every sector and every individual must be involved in the fight.
Thanks Gaurav. Life has not become normal as yet so we must remain cautious.
आपका स्वागत है,,आपने कोरोनावायरस के विषय में विचार रखें हैं,, बहुत जीवंत हैं।हम सब ने सीखा है और सिखाया भी है। परिवार का साथ,, समास्यायें व समाधान भी निकले।।पर अभी काफी लम्बी राह तय करनी है,,हम सब को व्यक्तिगत तौर पर भी प्रयास करने होंगे।। प्रकृति ने हमें समय दिया है कि ऐसा विभीत्स समय है तो हमें इस संसार में रहनेवाले हर जीव का आदर करना है।। हमारे बुजुर्गों ने बातें सिखाई हैं उनको अपनाना होगा।।हमारी शुभकामनाएं डाक्टर अश्विनी मल्होत्रा जी को उनके प्रयास के लिए,,, ईश्वर कृपा से आप अपने लेखों से मार्गदर्शन करें।।
Thank you dear Rama ji
Very true.
We all really have to understand that taking precautions and following protocol is in the best interest not only for ourselves but for each and everyone around us.Always awaiting your informative articles!!
Thank you for your comments
डाक्टर अश्विनी जी ने बहुत उत्तम कोटि का लेख सब चीजों को समाहित करते हुए लिखा है । इसके लिए वह बधाई के पात्र है । मेरे बड़े भाई साहब भी अमेरिका में डाक्टर हैं, उन्होंने मुझे कई साल पहले एक बात बताई थी । उन्होंने कहा था लोग इतने कीमती जीवन को भी गंभीरता से नहीं लेते । कहते हैं जो होगा देखा जायेगा । (अपने स्वास्थ्य के संबंध में) आध्यात्मिक रूप से भी, इंसानियत की दृष्टि से भी अपने, अपने परिवार की दृष्टि से भी, सामाजिक दृष्टि से भी यह ग़लत है । लापरवाही विशेषकर कोरोना के मामले में यदि आप लापरवाही करोगे सजा आपको तो भुगतना होगी किसी बेगुनाह को आपकी वजह से भुगतनी होगी ।
Dear Mr. Ravinder Sudan. Thanks for your comments. I agree with your brother that we dont take illness seriously. In my opinion health should be our top most priority in life.
Very well written and explained..we should all follow precautions and norms ..we should help to stop its spread in order to help medical professionals..They are frontiers and facing everything..very well written
Very well explained..we should follow precautions and norms to avoid covid spread…medical professionals are frontiers,they are facing everything..we should help them.
Dear Namrata , Thank you for your comments.
Very Well Written And Described…
And Very Informative..
Waiting For More Articles To Come
Thanks Pankaj for your encouragement.
Superbly Written…
Very Informative..
Waiting for more articles…