Staring at the End of the Tunnel, finally...

Yes, it's over! All over! 2020 is thankfully now a thing of the past! I still remember those days of the early stages of the pandemic and the resulting weeks of gloom of apprehension and uncertainty which were looming over us in the early stages of 2020, like those happened just last week. And I am quite sure that like me, many of you would reciprocate my feelings here. But seriously, now that 2020 is past us, we can breathe a sigh of relief perhaps.

It would perhaps sound sheepish to just think of this relief from the mere psychological point of view that the year of doom and gloom that 2020 was, is over. The sense of calm and relief should perhaps be more attributed to the fact that now as a race, we are equipped with multiple vaccines, which have already started inoculating masses in the US and UK and which are also going to be mass-administered in India as well very soon. So perhaps, we are finally looking towards the light at the end of the tunnel. Debates will be there, of course, on the safety of these vaccines, given that they have been developed and tested in record times. Given the rough estimate of about 4-5 years which an odd vaccine take to develop, the vaccines for COVID-19 has been developed well within a year. But one thing that has to be said is that the researchers have really slogged really hard and put in their every bit of effort (humanly possible) to bring in these vaccines and hence we have these vaccines, this early. So yes, we can look at these with optimism, for our primary defence against the virus is there.

Our sense of relief can also be further accentuated by the fact that we have perhaps already seen the worst that the COVID-19 could have inflicted upon India and the world. Coming from the peak that was reached in September, the cases have come down a lot and is now kind of under control, to be honest. Special credit must be given to everybody who have stuck at homes during the long festival season in India and thus have helped a long way in keeping the number of infections under control, in the face of great apprehension and fear that doom was looming all over us, with the onset of the festivities here. And mind you, not even the entirety developed Western world can take credit for this, because they have and are still continuing to see multiple COVID-19 peaks. So fellow Indians, pat your backs once more! That thumbs up is for you!

Add to the above the wealth of experience which the last five-six months have contributed to all our doctors, researchers, virologists, epidemiologists and the likes. At the onset of the pandemic, nobody knew practically about this new evil, but now, they have so much knowledge, so many experiences, the general trends, symptoms, etc., that they should be and are feeling more confident than they were on, say, April. That's a real boon, honestly, given the fact it is they who are leading the battle against this 'unknown' enemy and are now holding the edge for us, the humanity. Kudos to you, guys! You are the real heroes, no lesser than the soldiers who are guarding the borders in inhospitable zones.

So, there you have it. Lots of hope, optimism, positivity and the eagerness to look forward to on this first day of the new year. There's this kind of old feeling of exuberance that a new year has started, which kind of resonates the feeling we have on this day every year. I am really not sure if the latter part of the 2020 didn't go much good, we would have been able to welcome 2021 like we are doing now. Of course, there's this feeling that the wretched year is going for good and we should welcome the new year with all the fanfare. But imagine a situation where say the vaccines have not worked in Trials, or say the virus has mutated to such a extent rapidly that scientists are finding it difficult to sequence the altered DNA and hence are not being able to arrive at a possible formula for the vaccine. Oh, I will spare you the chills, for these are just hypothetical scenarios, which I just wanted you to think about. Do you think, if any of these had occurred, we would have been welcoming 2021 with so much glee? I don't think so! But we are doing, right? So something just tells me we are moving in the right direction! Victory to humanity!

The 'Unknown' Enemy turning 'Known'...

It has been a while that I have made an entry in this blog of mine. The last time I remember having posted here and which you can all see below was when the Coronavirus pandemic was just starting to kick in and the effects of the nationwide lockdown were being discussed day in and out. That definitely was the need of the hour and that was what was done. Yes, the scenes of acute suffering of the common and hapless lot still ache our hearts and will continue to do so, as long as we are alive. But above all, what the people were most paranoid about was the nature of this disease which had just hit our civilization, a couple of months (then) back and about which we, as a race, were not at all aware. For us, specifically living in India, the thing was more sudden, if you remember. Till 29th January, there were no cases in India, as we had our first case of infection on 30th January in Kerala. Throughout February, the figures stayed low and the general feeling was that we could overcome it by maintaining basic hygiene and social distancing.

We went in for the nationwide lockdown, towards the end of March and the common mass felt that we could defeat COVID-19 by imposing a series of lockdowns, though the virologists and the epidemiologists warned us time and again that it was only a containing process and not a method we can use to overcome this pandemic. People were still learning, you see. They were still coming to terms with the new normal that the Coronavirus had imposed on the human society. To be honest, at that juncture, I didn't feel that the number of infected people in India would shoot up to 3.6 million, by the end of August. But the warning was always there, wasn't it? That was how the lockdown days were, at least till Lockdown 4.0 (end of May).

The lockdown had plenty of forced collateral damages, the most brutal among them being the one inflicted upon the already shrunk economy. So, we all knew that at some point of time, the Government would be forced to open the country and start the Unlock phase. This started from 1st June. And that is when, it all started to get murky, as had been expected. All the simulations which had been carried out by the various experts on how the situation would take shape, once the lockdown is lifted, started to come true. The forced (again) unlock resulted in a huge surge of daily cases across the country. States (like Kerala) which had scored huge initial victories against the virus, started to panic with the new situation and as a result saw their condition turning for the worse along with the other states in the country, which were already under the scanner for their bleak situation right from the very start of the pandemic (like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu).

As I frame this piece on 31st August, 2020, I can still see a record increase of daily infections in India (higher than the likes of the worst hit countries of the US and Brazil). August hasn't been really good with the numbers (daily positive cases and deaths as well). And to be honest, I don't think we have hit the peak yet (which I believe the US has already done). So that's surely a cause of concern. But among many things which may have accounted for this steep rise in number, the single-most important factor has to be the record increase in the number of testing that is being carried out across the country every single day. That's definitely a good thing, as we have to find and isolate the infected at the earliest stage possible. But on the downside, this will inevitably get the numbers up, as we are seeing currently.

But one thing on the positive side is that the people have become and got themselves educated on the virus more than they were, say a couple of months back. The common lay man now knows the difference between the symptomatic and the asymptomatic cases. They know that it's not the end of the road, even if you get infected by the virus. There's this 97%+ chance (in India) that you will recover fully and be back on your feet soon. So the fear factor has been thankfully reduced from the minds of the people. That's a real blessing, taking into consideration that they don't have much of an option, other than getting out and hitting the road. They can't stay locked down forever, can they? They have to earn their bread for the day, which they wouldn't be able to from the confines of their houses, in a country like ours. And what keeps them going nowadays, is the fact that we are starting to enter a phase where a viable vaccine (possibly multiple) seems pretty much in the fray. News reports have thronged us over the last few weeks telling about the positive results coming out of the trial phases of the various vaccine candidates. So there's a glimmer of hope, which the people are growing fond of these days. Let's hope that the glimmer only turns brighter by every passing day.

But there's a catch in there. The earliest we can have a vaccine is December, 2020 (though it's being widely reported it can get pushed to early 2021). So, there is still a lot of time we have on our hands before we have a possible cure for us. We do have to sustain this period of minimum 4-5 months. And the best way to go about this is by bolstering our immunity system. Already there are bundles of reports which suggest what one should be doing to ensure that they get this done. From consuming more citrus fruits for Vitamin C, to soaking in more sunlight in order to gain in more Vitamin D, all of these are in the public domain nowadays for gaining that advantage in terms of one's immunity response. And trust me, this will definitely help us a lot, in these coming months, what we are considering to be the final phase of this deadly showdown with the Coronavirus.

So, as I was saying. The last 5-6 months have been really tough, perhaps the toughest this generation of ours have ever seen. But my belief is that we are starting to come to a crossroads when it's not that much about the fear and oblivion that the first shock waves of this deadly pandemic had caused. It's more about how we get along with this 'known enemy', what we can do about it, how we can change our lives and our lifestyle for that matter for our own good and how we can finally stamp our authority on this deadly virus. I won't be getting overenthusiastic by saying 'victory over the virus', because that is something still quite far-fetched, something which we can't say is 100% possible from our current view. Leaving that discussion for a future blog, I would conclude this by saying that not all is lost. Actually, we have gained a lot in these last few months... a lot of crucial information, statistics, data, etc on the virus, which make us more aware about it. Of course, a known enemy is always better than an unknown one. Adios! Stay safe, everybody!