Posted On: 2021-04-21 10:32:52.
The second wave
What is Coronavirus? Coronavirus is also known as Covid 19, a virus that brought the world to a halt in the year 2020 and is still affecting billions of lives to date. This virus is popularly known to have originated from China as the first case of the virus was reported in Wuhan on 31st December 2019 according to WHO. The virus was given no special treatment and people thought that its vaccine will be created soon and the spread of the virus will be stopped. Soon the cases grew in China and every other country across the globe felt pity towards China and some even quietly made fun of the situation. But little did everyone know that the situation in China was just the start of a global pandemic. All the countries suffered greatly as the virus spread globally but the countries that were majorly hit by the pandemic are the United States of America, India, Brazil, France, Russia, UK, Turkey, Italy, Spain, and Germany. The total number of cases worldwide to date is 143,588,175 with a death toll of 3,058,567.
Preview of lockdown 1
Observing the rate at which the virus was increasing its grasp on the world day by day almost every country declared an intra-country as well as inter-country travels lockdown. This lockdown came as a surprise to the citizens which created a situation of chaos. The first declaration of lockdown was just for a few days but then as the situation worsened with lakhs of deaths happening around along with the number of positive cases increasing on the daily basis the lockdown period kept on extending. Most of the workers doing 9 to 5 jobs were given work from home and some were even fired from their jobs. Daily wage workers like the construction workers lost their jobs and even the entertainment industry was shut down, creating unemployment. Students were asked to attend online classes and give online exams.
Millions of people lost their jobs, from construction workers to people working in multinational companies. The doctors worked tirelessly 24/7 to save as many lives as possible, and police officers ensured that everyone was safe in their homes and not roaming around for unnecessary reasons. In this process, many of these frontline workers got infected and lost their lives while saving others.
However, every downturn has a bright side. The bright side of this situation was that the people started spending more time with their family, started cooking, learned new activities, even videos of celebrities doing chores went viral on the internet. Mother nature started healing as the streets were empty without any vehicles and the environment was getting better. Dolphins started visiting the shores and turtles lay eggs on the cleaned-up beaches. The beaches started looking cleaner and the skies bright as ever.
As people were fired from their jobs and most of the daily wage earners were homeless, they started moving back to their native places, some even walked hundreds of miles just to get home. People struggled to even get a piece of bread. At the same time, the cases continued to increase regardless of the struggle people were going through. Students studying far from their homes were stuck alone in their hostels, people living alone far from their families for work faced the same situation too. People were adjusting to staying home but eventually that turned most of the emotions into depression, anxiety and suffocation as they were confined within the same walls and same people. The anxiety among everyone increased, mostly in the teenagers. According to some surveys, the behavior of the teenagers started representing the same behavior of a patient in a mental asylum in the ’50s. The lockdown took a toll not just on the pockets of the people but also on the mental health.
After almost 5 months of complete lockdown in India, step by step the unlock started where selective people were allowed to perform certain activities outside their houses but still, restrictions were imposed. The severity of the situation was neglected by the citizens and the people didn’t care any less and walked around without taking any precautions.
Vaccine and lockdown 2.0
Every virus alters its DNA from time to time making the research of the vaccine very difficult. The neglect by the people led to the making of not 1, not 2 but 7 variants of the virus all from different countries. 229E, NL63, OC43, HKU1, MERS-CoV, SARS- CoV, and SARS-CoV-2. Among which, 3 of these variants make it to the list of the top 13 deadliest viruses in human history.
Scientists faced a lot of challenges and failures in the making of the vaccine but after months of hard work, a few vaccines were made. Though each of these vaccines is only effective to the particular variant or a couple of variants but not strong enough to fight all 7 variants and with a success rate of only 90-95%, this is the reason why the search for a stronger vaccine effective vaccine with a success rate of at least 99% is going on. With the creation of the vaccines, myths for the same were created. Currently in India people above the age of 45 are given vaccines along with frontline essential workers. Recently the government announced that the vaccine will be available to everyone above the age of 18 from 1st May 2021. But these myths and wrong information percolating on social media is making it tougher for people to believe in the vaccine.
The number of deaths happening in the world continues to increase. Recently India started breaking its record of the highest number of cases and death in a single day. On 18th April 2021, India recorded its highest death toll in a day of 1500 deaths with the registration of 2.61 Covid19 cases. The United States of America has the highest number of cases and death toll followed by India, Brazil, France, and Russia in the same sequence.
People are trying their best to stay away from the possibilities of lockdown as they have already experienced it once. But even if the country goes under lockdown it will be a great chance for everyone to implement the skills they learned in lockdown 1 in this lockdown and make it more happening and enjoyable. Currently, to make sure that people are safe there is a lockdown-like situation taking place where the employees from 9 to 5 jobs are allotted work from home. Only essential workers are allowed to attend their offices. While the police officers are patrolling the streets, doctors trying their best to save lives, and scientists running tests to create more efficient vaccines.
The common people are under lockdown like situation in many states, while politicians were holding rallies and even the Kumbh Mela was allowed and because of the crowd that accumulated there, there was a spike in the number of Covid cases amongst the devotees and the locations that they visited. This was not just putting many lives at risk but also an insult to the frontline workers who were risking their life and staying away from their families just to help people. While the exams were postponed or cancelled, the government did not contemplate to postpone the elections which not only risked their own lives but also the lives of millions of supporters who took part in the rallies.
Crowdfunding helps the needy
Through crowdfunding, many people have been able to help other people in need and even needy mute animals. Before the lockdown, the street animals were fed by the locals but after the strict lockdown, there was no one to feed these poor animals. Various NGOs came forward to feed them, even some individuals came forward for the same. To gather funds for the same, people approached crowdfunding platforms and with the raised money brought food for these mute animals from the funds raised.
Crowdfunding helped in making internet connections, mobile phones, and laptops available to the needy children and teachers for online classes and even for collecting funds for old age homes where the people were the most vulnerable to the virus. Various NGOs turned to crowdfund the expenses of sending people back home to their families. Food distribution and distribution of essentials among the needy was possible with the help of funds raised through crowdfunding. People were ready to support the causes relating to Covid19, even providing support to small businesses. Even helping in covering the expenses of some patients fighting Covid19 is possible through crowdfunding.
We hope that during these lockdown-like situations people come forward like they did last year and do their part in helping and saving the lives of the needy.
The Crowdfunding site “Filaantro”, in partnership with Child Help Foundation, has started a program known as zero hunger to feed the underprivileged children. Lockdown or no lockdown, these children suffer to even get bread or a glass of milk daily. Your little contribution can help us feed a hungry child. You can help by visiting and contributing on https://filaantro.org/fundraiser/view/zero-hunger
If you have any questions regarding Covid19 you can contact the Ministry of Health and Family welfare on +91-11-23978046 or toll free 1075.
For more detailed information visit: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/
“Covid19 has immensely affected the lives of the underprivileged people and made their already struggling life tougher. Through crowdfunding, you can make a positive impact and help these people and save many lives.”
Author : Hritika Singh
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