Needed, a torchbearer
Instead of indulging in periodic illusory acts of light and sound shows, we need to sit back and stare at some hard questions. Is the COVID-19 testing in India faster than the spread of the virus? Have the isolation wards and hospitals been well-equipped, so that they are safe for the patient as well as the physician? The sea waves did not stop when King Canute said “freeze”. Nature’s laws are rooted in science and need not obey an individual’s diktats .
P. David Balasingh,
Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu
The announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a nine-minute lighting of candles and mobile flashlights April 9 was nothing but a PR exercise to prove to the world that the whole country listens to its leadership. The overzealous followers had gone overboard on March 22 by spilling out onto the streets, thereby defeating the very purpose of a lockdown. This time, when the whole country was expecting something substantial and meaningful from the Prime Minister, 10 days into the lockdown, he surprised us with such an enlightening view. With the rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, it was but natural for the whole country to expect news on measures undertaken so far and the steps envisaged and to be implemented in the days to come. The announcement disappointed everyone except the followers of the Prime Minister who will go into a huddle to invent scientific and astrological justifications for his call to the nation.
G.B. Sivanandam,
Coimbatore
The people of this country have exhibited remarkable resilience in times of adversity, time and again. This is seen from the fact that lakhs of migrants left jobless have reconciled themselves to the situation. In this context, it was expected that the Prime Minister would spell out measures to assuage the feelings of the distraught migrants, elderly and sick. However, his call to the nation to light lamps has trivialised the the issue.
V. Subramanian,
Thane, Maharashtra
China’s secrecy
China quite apparently was not transparent in its reporting when the SARS-CoV-2 virus broke out in Wuhan as early as in December last year, despite the fact that it knew about the great dangers the virus posed to peoples’ lives. As a powerful member of the United Nations, it failed badly in its responsibility to help other member countries on this issue. Further, there was some lapse on the part of the World Health Organization too. The health body termed this outbreak a ‘global emergency’ on January 31 but waited for more than one more month to finally declare it a pandemic, well after the deadly disease had penetrated many parts of the world and taken many more lives. If the pandemic pronouncement had come a month earlier, some countries would have taken early preventive steps like imposing lockdowns, getting sufficient ventilators, testing kits hospital beds, etc. and consequently thousands of lives would have been saved in Italy, Spain and other badly affected countries (“Wuhan initially downplayed crisis, says China expert,” April 3).
A. Mohan,
Chennai
In the middle of a battle
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposal of a staggered exit to the 21-day lockdown may defeat the very purpose of the exercise. The threat of COVID-19 will remain real even at the end of the period. Hence, the prohibition on gatherings and implementation of social distancing should be continued for at least another month.
The formula of testing, tracing, quarantining and isolating people can go a long way, if it translates well on the ground. Though the hotspots need more focus, it is better to consider the country itself as one hotspot. We cannot loosen the apron strings in the middle of the war.
D.V.G. Sankararao,
Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh
The spread of zoonosis
Zoonotic diseases, those with origins in wild animals like bubonic plaque, Ebola, Avian flu, Swine flu, have ratcheted up from time to time. Human beings have been domesticating animals since ancient times but have overexploited them decimated their habitats. These pandemics appear as some form of retributive measure by these animals. We need to take lessons and prepare.
Jit Sarkar,
Kolkata
We the civilised humans or six-sensed organs must have to understand that ecosystems are not to be disturbed and have to be protected instead. It is time to strengthen the laws and make necessary amendments to protect illegal trading of wild animals (such as pangolins, rhinoceros, elephants, etc.) for exploitation and making the people to realise the consequences of break in ecosystem chains. We can include the syllabi to all the students from schools to colleges and all government and private sectors about the importance of forests, preservation ecosystem and zoonotic diseases. Nature’s clear cut message is from this COVID-19 outbreak is “if we break the ecosystem chain, we have to struggle hard to break the chain of zoonotic diseases”.
J.K. Aravind,
Tindivanam Taluk, Tamil Nadu
The million mark
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the world has passed one million; a milestone nobody wanted to reach. It has taken just over three months for COVID-19 to infect so many people since its outbreak in China’s Wuhan province. The number excludes undiagnosed, unidentified and unknown cases; it means the true figure is likely to be far higher. At this point in time it is not known how it will play out and how long it will last. The pandemic marks a turning point in the ‘descent of man’ and a major shift in life as we knew it.
Pondering on life — and the changes in behaviour and lifestyle — in this time of the pandemic sitting within the confines of home is a relaxing and rewarding exercise. A virus invisible to the naked eye acts as a sobering reminder of human mortality. It has made us acutely aware of how fragile and vulnerable we are. Perhaps never before have we felt the ‘uncertainty of life’ as now.
It should be understandable if the pandemic with growing casualty toll — the death toll has risen to 55000, and counting — triggers a feeling of having been forsaken among ‘believers’ and a ‘faith crisis’. ‘Faith healers’, without a clue on how to offer “miracle cure”, have almost vanished without a trace. The faithful are left to pray for intervention of supernatural or divine powers from their homes and not as part of congregations in place of worship to avoid human-to-human transmission.
Now is an occasion to juxtapose a virus with the world’s stockpile of weapons and realise that it is not amenable to be conquered by the military might of countries. The human race has enough weapons to annihilate itself, but not a tiny virus!
Saving lives from the pathogen is now the top priority; still, the consequences of economic activities coming to a grinding halt (or a deep global recession) staring us in the face are too significant to be ignored. If production in general is necessary for our economic survival, agricultural production is vital to staying alive. Food is a basic need without which we cannot survive.
As descendants of those who survived similar pandemics during their evolutionary journey, we should be able to behave rationally and responsibly (we must continue with such prophylactic measures as testing, staying at home and maintaining ‘physical distancing’ as long as necessary), optimise our resilience and determination and emerge triumphant in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.
G. David Milton,
Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu
Right to read
The right of a resident to receive a hard copy of the newspaper, the pleasure of flipping through it with a cup of coffee is really a tremendous feeling in the early morning hours. Further, there is no restriction on distribution of newspapers, it is included in essential services. So, no one should hinder distribution of newspapers. In this world of social media, where gossip and propaganda are elevated, to the status of gospel, the printed word on a responsible newspaper is clearly an essential service, particularly in these war-like situation. News media plays a pivotal role. Media is the “fourth estate” of democracy and it plays a major role in ensuring justice and benefits of the government policies reach the interior sections of the society. There lies the real success of the news media and the newspapers are the backbone of this country.
Gundu K. Maniam,
Mumbai
