Corona Came Calling 1: The Prologue
THE PROLOGUE
In April 2019, in my article, “Healthcare is First a Responsibility…”*, quoting WHO, I mentioned,
“The threat ahead is so big that if it is not taken care of, it can wipe out a substantial part of our progresses and gains on all other fronts. The task ahead is so enormous that the international agencies and the governments cannot handle on their own and hence, the onus is on all stakeholders in the system.”
Unfortunately, within 8 months, Covid-19 strikes our world, and all that and more has come true.
31st December’2019, in Wuhan, China, ‘novel coronavirus’ raised its head and reported as ‘Viral Pneumonia of Unknown Cause’. WHO immediately takes cognizance and alerts/activates the Global Outbreak Network.
In a couple of weeks, cases start getting reported from outside China, Thailand & Japan. In subsequent weeks, novel coronavirus gets reported from multiple countries, across continents. WHO characterizes it as a ‘Pandemic’ on 11th March’2020.**
27th January’2020, India reports the first case of ‘novel coronavirus’ in Thrissur, Kerala to a lady, who returned from Wuhan just 4 days back.***
By 9th March, it enters the state of Maharashtra (city of Pune), and by 11th March, the first case gets reported in Mumbai****, the city where I live along with my family.
Cases keep getting reported all across, and our City/State is the worst affected. Corona travels to our locality / society / complex, eventually to our building.
The subsequent lockdown, work from home, and managing household chores on your own were small realities.
Isolations & Quarantine; Individual & Collective sufferings; Loss of Lives & Livelihoods; Forced Separations; Interrupted Childhoods; Disturbed Sunset Years; Reverse Migrations; Overwhelmed Health Systems meant this Pandemic is truly the biggest Health & Humanity crisis in our lifetime.
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I will follow The Prologue with The Dialogue in part 2.
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References:
**https://www.who.int/news/item/29-06-2020-covidtimeline
****https://www.mumbailive.com/en/health/one-year-of-first-covid-19-case-reported-in-mumbai-62542
