Day Twelve


As I sipped my morning coffee, I thought of all the people who ensured that I got my milk as usual. The dairy farmers who milked the cattle and carried it to the collection centres. The tempo drivers who ferried the milk from the various collection centres to the dairy where the milk was processed and pasteurised. The operators of the pasteurisation plant who monitored all the process parameters. The technicians at the lab who checked for quality. People in the assembly line who filled the processed milk into plastic pouches and sealed them. Loaders who stacked crates of milk pouches into hundreds of delivery vans. Drivers who drove the delivery vans all night to supply milk to booths scattered all over the city. And finally the man in my booth who gave me the milk this morning. So, even as I stay locked down in the comfort of my home, all these people work to ensure my morning coffee. 
Babies continue to be born. And people continue to die, NOTWITHSTANDING the coronavirus, and keep cemeteries busy. Power continues to be generated and distributed. Water continues to be treated and supplied. Garbage continues to be collected and disposed of in landfills. Oil is still refined to produce fuels to run vehicles. Internet still works to fuel and spread gossip on social medias. The least protected people are out there to ensure the comfort and security of people like me locked down inside homes. The most protected people now are the least important and vice versa.


The number of cases globally crossed one million. Here in India, the growth in number of cases continues to be sluggish.

Total CasesDeltaFatalitiesDelta
25-Mar65711
26-Mar73578165
27-Mar886151193
28-Mar1029143245
29-Mar1139110273
30-Mar13472084316
31-Mar1635288496
1-Apr2059424567
2-Apr25454867216
3-Apr30525078412

 While this is a happy news, the reasons are not clear. Surely, it cannot be only due to physical distancing in a very densely populated country. One theory gaining currency is BCG vaccination. There are unsubstantiated claims that TB vaccination has conferred partial immunity on us. Clinical trials on the BCG vaccine has started in Australia.
 

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