An Over-Drive Of Confusions, Lets Be Careful Before Throwing The Guards Off By

 

By D N Singh

The last 24 hours have something ominous for all in India and outside. Fresh footfalls of a new variant of Covid-19 can be heard. It was not time for a free-for-all situation regardless of the noticeable fall in the rate of infections due to Covid-19.

In last 24 hours forty(40) people had died due to Covid-19 on Wednesday and on the other hand, in India 65.7 percent rise in infections took the total cases to 2,066. However, the fresh tally of fatalities have, on Thursday, increased to as many as 56 more taking the total fatalities in India to 5,22,062.

The active cases presently stand at 13,433.

Post the third wave when people chose to avoid masks and the governments, including many states opened up everything without minimum restrictions, this had to happen.

In some other European nations and South East countries, a steady rise in infections has sent the clear signal that the virus with it’s new variants is on an invading mode again.

In South Korea, the increasing cases of Covid-19 keep climbing on the graph whereas, in China, supposed to be the breeding ground of the deadly Virus, Corona, several regions including Shanghai there are noticeable spread of the infections.

Air travels have been relaxed and in that case, spread of the variants into India cannot be ruled out as it had happened soon after the first outbreak of the Covid-19 from Wuhan.

Pending from where it had its origin, the issue of concern is now to come-back to the same guidelines and SOPs.

The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has already made an appeal to the people of the country to maintain the required vigil and not to be complacent that Covid-19 had gone away.

Even the chief minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik, has made a similar appeal to the people to remain within the minimum restrictions.

 

But, what is puzzling is the handicaps of the scientific or, say, medical fraternity which has led all through to an island of confusions born of a bit of ignorance to be frank.

First it was the virus called, Corona virus, then its dangerous variants. Again it was said, it was a matter of time before the ‘right; variant surfaces.

So, the vaccine is the only hope, Then we were said that the booster anytime a new variant appears. Then some said, it will prevail for a few years and simultaneously it was said that, it (virus) would remain at least 17 years. As more such variants are waiting in the wings.

So the pharmaceutical industry is working non-stop to safeguard us. The were virtually a plethora of opinions those, at times, contradicted each other, here and abroad.

It is not to say that our scientific or medical world lacks in the know how but, it is the unpredictability of the core disease itself which has grown to be challenging.

It is again back to our lifestyle which has to be streamlined because the fear of the virus’s longevity may continue as had been the case about one hundred years back, in 1918, when the outbreak of the ‘Spanish  Flu’ rendered the world helpless and a population of about 50 million died. Flu, influenza, Viral and so on were the major drivers of that calamity and they are still there in one form of the other.