Day Thirtyone

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thoughts on the Pandemic

As we enter the last week of an extraordinary year, I hasten to put down my thoughts buzzing in my head, lest they become mere nostalgia. At the beginning of the year, all I wanted to do was travel. 2020 was supposed to my year of big travel. Angkor Vat was scheduled for February. I had penciled in many other destinations in the calendar to coincide with special events. But as the coronavirus multiplied rapidly, spreading fear and death, the plans had to remain on paper. The first month was claustrophobic. The home became a prison. Uncertainty hung thick in the air. News spread anxiety and little else. As the days telescoped into one another in a crazy, disoriented jumble, it was important to anchor the mind to some purpose in order to stay sane. Bit by bit, order began to be restored in the mind. In the second month, I opened the windows wide and let them stay open all day, shutting them only at twilight to avoid the ingress of mosquitos. I sat by the window and gazed outside. A...
Read more

Day Eighteen

Woke up to the news that Amma's building has been sealed. A man from a family on the 2nd floor has tested positive and is in hospital. Cops have been stationed outside and nobody is allowed to enter or leave. It is actually reassuring to see authorities clamping down quickly. Amma's neighbour is helpful and fetched her milk. She doesn't have to step outside the 4 walls. The virus is bringing people together. It is rewriting the rules of social responbility. If your neighbour falls sick, the whole building gets sealed. So take care of your neighbour in your own selfish interest. This rule can be extended outwards to cover the entire humanity. Even if there is one infected human being, the threat of pandemic looms.  The news of this sealing is spreading like wildfire on WA. Sister tells me that pictures of the notice posted on the building gate are being circulated on WA.  She got a call from her friend in London! Is it necessary to single out a building like this?   WA...
Read more

Day Seventeen

Entering week 3 of the lockdown.  Mumbai Municipal Corporation has made masks compulsory in public spaces. Even inside offices and cars. Not wearing one is a punishable offence.  And a very exciting news that IIT-B is planning to develop a nasal gel to capture and inactivate the virus.  New Scientist is taking about 3 exit strategies to end the lockdown: 1) Hold : Maintain the lockdown until the rate of new infections falls close to zero, then pivot to an aggressive containment strategy, with isolation of new cases and contact tracing. 2) Build : Lock down for long enough to build healthcare capacity for the second wave. That means increasing intensive care beds and staff, but working out how much we need is difficult. 3) S hield : End the lockdown abruptly while extensively protecting those who are likely to be most vulnerable to the virus. Meanwhile the lockdown ended in Wuhan , the origin of the virus, after 76 days.  While no country has been unsc...
Read more