COVID-19 - Hardships, Empathies and Lessons

Ringo Pebam *

Who would have thought that the vehicles could stop on the roads, the airlines could halt operations, the streets and markets would come to a standstill, the schools and colleges would remain closed down, the borders of more than a hundred nations would remain sealed, and more than half of the world's population would remain confined at their homes for days and weeks gripped by the fear of - the novel coronavirus?

The world faces the most challenging crisis since World War II. It was nations fighting against one another back then. But now, humanity unites against a common enemy perhaps for the first time in history.

As of today, 14th April, more than 119,000 people have died the world over from Covid-19. Yesterday alone 5,421 people died, the day before yesterday it was 5,417, according to the data from Worldometers.

Many are out there around the world whose loved ones could be dead in a few days or a few weeks.

By the time you finished reading this write-up (say it takes 10 minutes to read), about 37 people would have died around the world from Covid-19.

Along with the deaths, many are facing financial difficulties, and the poor and vulnerable everywhere are facing food shortages and starvation.

Sharda Atram, in rural Maharashtra, has Rs 10 in cash and a few kilos of wheat, rice, and dal left. She is 23 years old, and gave birth to a daughter on March 29. Her husband killed himself after his crops failed, leaving behind a loan he was unable to pay.

Her widowed mother-in-law, the sole breadwinner, a daily wage earner, now has no work as the country is in lockdown. And no help from the administration has reached her yet, reported Newslaundry two days back. Similar stories of hardship like hers must be there too in Manipur, which go unreported.

This pandemic has also brought about empathy and acts that are heart-warming amidst the sad stories of hunger, dying and dead.

52 doctors and nurse of socialist Cuba went to the richer democratic nations like Italy to help. When relief flights of Air India operating from Mumbai to Europe entered Pakistan's air space, Pakistani Air Controller said, 'Proud of you', to the pilot of Air India.

Sikh youth who volunteered to cook food for North East students are seen in this photo taken in front of Pichori Gurudwara, Subhash Nagar, Delhi.
Photo Courtesy: Robin Hibu

Six Sikh youths of a Gurudwara in New Delhi's Subhas Nagar area, volunteered to cook food for the North East students who are preparing for competitive examinations in Delhi amidst the lockdown. The girls of many localities in the valley of Manipur distributed essential food items bought from the money they collected for Thabal Chongba to the people in their localities.

Thabal organisers and more donate money, essential goods in Manipur.
Photo Courtesy: The Sangai Express

India lifted the ban on the export of Hydroxychloroquine to help the US, Brazil, Israel, Sri Lanka Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Bahrain, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Seychelles, Mauritius, Canada among others to fight Covid-19.

Free foods were kept on tables in streets in Naples, Italy, with signs that read as "For you who doesn't have much, take this!". Solidarity food baskets were hung from balconies to help those in need in many places around the world. Pioneer heavy metal band Black Sabbath's guitarist Tony Iommi auctioned his guitar for Covid-19 relief.

Free food on a table in a Naples street with a sign that reads 'For you who doesn't have much, take this!'.
Photo Courtesy: The Local

Individuals and families residing along Delhi-Ghaziabad highway offered banana and water to the migrants who were walking their long road home. Muslim neighbors of a Hindu woman in Madhya Pradesh's Indore, carried her bier for 2.5 km to a cremation ground, as no transport was available and no relatives of her came due to fear of Covid-19.

With no transport, Muslim youths carried the bier of a Hindu woman for 2.5kms to the cremation ground in Indore.
Photo Courtesy: NDTV

Villagers of the Liangmai community of Kangpokpi shared their homegrown vegetable to the Meiteis in nearby valley villages. Individuals with no political affiliation and aspirations in some areas in Manipur pooled in money, bought essential food items, and distributed to the families residing in their areas.

Led by our Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren from the front, the Editorial columns of newspapers, NGOs/ CSOs, and many individuals in social media asked people to stop the stigmatization of Covid-19 positive patients.

Rajasthan's Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, has banned photography during the distribution of food among the poor. Ashok Gehlot had said that the intention should be to help the poor and needy people, and not to make a publicity stunt out of the little help offered to them.

IAS officer Srijana Gummalla, in Andhra Pradesh, refused her 6-month maternity leave amid Covid-19 crisis and joined work with a month old baby, to make some difference in the lives of the people. Miss England Bhasha Mukherjee returned to work as a doctor at Pilgrim Hospital, eastern England. She felt it wrong to be wearing her Miss England crown while people around the world were dying from coronavirus and her doctor colleagues working so hard, as the Covid-19 pandemic worsens in the UK.

Those are few among the many acts of compassion and fellow feeling.

Maharastra Chief Minister, Uddhav Thackeray, who stands for Hindutva, warned people not to spread hateful messages on social media against Muslims post the Nizamuddin gathering, and that was a very good thing to see.

Congress's P Chidambaram, a strong critic of Prime Minister Modi, asked the people to support Modi in the fight against Covid-19. Actor turned politician, Kamal Haasan, heavily criticized PM Modi, and spoke up for the working class, but at the same time he also said, 'angry, but still on your side'.

In times like these, we need to come together without religion and political biases.

Coming back to normalcy from the current Covid-19 crisis will take time. Venturing out in the street will always be with fear, until we are vaccinated.

World Health Organisation's director-general, Tedros Adhanom, in his 27th March's media briefing said that the Covid-19 vaccine is still at least 12 to 18 months away. We all have to take precautions until then.

Union Health Ministry has said that according to an Indian Council of Medical Research study, a single Covid-19 positive person in the absence of any lockdown or social distancing measures can infect up to 406 people in 30 days.

We don't have to panic, yet take every precaution and safety measures.

In late March, BBC called Rajasthan's Bhilwara district as 'India's Italy' in the making, but the spread of Covid-19 has now been under control successfully. The aggressive strategy adopted by the District Administration of Bhilwara now serves as a lesson for other states. The Central Government has asked states to replicate the ' Bhilwara model'.

On Saturday, we saw chaos at many public places in Imphal when the lockdown was relaxed. It was a complete disorder; people didn't maintain social distancing guidelines, defeating the stay-at-home and lockdown we have been following.

People swarmed markets in Imphal without maintaining social distancing during the brief lockdown relaxation on April 11.
Photo Courtesy: Shankar Khangembam

I believe that our Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren and the State machinery wholeheartedly want to fight against Covid-19, and have been combating earnestly. But some lessons can be learned from Saturday's lockdown relaxation fiasco.

I believe that a robust supply chain strategy and guideline for the distribution of groceries is imperative. There is a need for effective implementation of the home delivery system. Under the strict supervision of the State, a task force can do the delivery of essential commodities from door to door.

The State machinery need to foresee things and make the administration ruthlessly efficient. They need to make plans for worst-case scenarios and gear up for any precarious situation. If lockdown was to be relaxed, they should have deployed enough police personnel to ensure that social distancing is maintained. These are not normal times; these are tough times when most people are running short of essential food items at home. People were bound to come out in massive numbers to buy their needs in the little lockdown relaxation time of Saturday.

No doubt, there must be a high power committee which meets every day (Chief Secretary and senior officers) to review the situation. With the turn of events of late, there seems to be a lack of coordination amongst the various departments. Won't it be better if only the high power committee takes the decisions and then releases orders instead of various departments releasing different orders which create more confusion?

Our fellow citizens also need to introspect on Saturday's chaos at various public places in Imphal during lockdown relaxation hours. We seem to have lost our common sense to maintain social distancing in the panic to buy the essential items in the limited time of curfew relaxation. What was the point of having stayed at home for so long if we had to break the social distancing guidelines?