COVID-19
The era of masks, sanitisers and social distancing marked the declaration of coronavirus disease as a global pandemic. A virus that was found affecting the Chinese in Wuhan has turned into a fatal disease.
Coronavirus disease has claimed over 2.65 million lives. It has created havoc and wrecked homes across the globe. Covid-19 is said to have originated by the consumption of a bat by a human.
Retrospective investigations by the Chinese government say that the first case of the coronavirus appeared on December,20 9. China announced a nation-wide lockdown in mid-January. This was to prevent the spread of the virus among the citizens of the country. The government told the enlightened the people on how social distancing was the only possible solution.
However, it was too late for their countries. Initially, the number of cases were in single digits, but it wasn’t long before they rose to a hundred and later lakhs. Between February and March, Italy was the single most affected country in the world. There was a peaking death ratio. Subsequently, other nations in the European Union followed and the other countries succumbed to the virus. The whole of Europe was under lockdown in mid-February.
India announced its nation-wide 21-day lockdown and social distancing program on 23rd March 2020. The lockdown was further extended. In March, India recorded a few thousand cases. Despite this, the cases continued to rise. In the first unlock period, India was recording over thirty-thousand cases each day. The peak came in the months of September-November when the record for one day was around one lakh.
The situation improved in the winter months. India was recording less than twenty thousand cases each day. However, with the upcoming elections in various states, the cases are rising. Some states have announced partial lockdown.
Apart from the economic downfall of the global economy. The covid-19 pandemic brought harm to the people in a lot of many ways. Students haven’t received a proper education in over a year. Schools and universities have resorted to online classes. In rural areas, where there are no provisions for online classes, schools haven’t resumed operation.
The mental health of the citizens has distinctly deteriorated. Isolation in the pandemic has increased anxiety issues and depression among the people. Statistics show the pandemic caused a sharp increase among the people who visit psychiatrists. Because of financial problems, a lot of families underwent fights and quarrels. The government incurred huge expenses to help people to return to their homes.
The pandemic is not yet over. Is there a possibility for another lockdown? We don’t know yet. The fate of the virus is extremely uncertain. We have no clue as to where this pandemic is heading and what the future holds.
