Covid - The Killer

COVID - THE KILLER!

by

MURALI MURTHY

It's hard to believe we've been living in rather weird, scary, coronavirus-ridden world for six months now.
I am no medical expert, nor have any knowledge or understanding of how Covid virus can be handled, managed, controlled or cured.

When assessing coronavirus' potential for it's deadliness, narratives on its progression may be just as important to observe than the information available itself. As with anything that may have the potential for disruption, media (FB, Whatsapp, News Channels) are quick to cause a furore to stir public opinion, and perhaps exaggerate or over-emphasise certain aspects. And this may have been done in case of the coronavirus as well.

But as a common man, who is not (yet) infected by Covid, all I am seeing around me is the scare, fear surrounding the Virus than the actual health impact.

As I go around the streets these days, I see more and more To Let, For Rent, For Sale boards stuck on many commercial buildings. And these boards are increasing in the same ratio as the Cases are going up.

I surely see Covid Virus impacting the humanity, more on the economic front than the health.
Many businesses going down, many industries shutting down, hospitality industry down on it's knees, Service industry flushed out from it's existence.

Labour class losing livelihood, many losing jobs, salary cuts making millions of people poorer.

The fear psychosis is so much so, that people are happy holed up at home, stopped leading a normal life. Thanks to the news channels whose creative team is busy creating horrific graphics, animated and overexcited anchors using choicest of words to make us believe that we all will be dead tomorrow. Many people strongly believe they would get infected if they step out of home, and yet they have all justifications and forwarded "facts" to prove their belief.

There are examples and all kinds of cases, if one gives an example of how a person was careless, went out ate and got infected, I also have examples of people staying indoors, literally locked themselves at home, not letting anyone else enter their home, ordering vegetables and groceries online and getting it home delivered, quarantining those items for more than 24 hours, cleaning....yet being infected with the virus!

Aged people, employees who are working from home (yet getting usual Salaries) have all become extra cautious and are discovering and inventing new ways to do crazy things to make them believe they are safe.

I have nothing against those who are extra cautious and are scared to even step out of home, forget eating out or buying things. Is it really worth? What are people scared of? Getting fever? Because that's what Covid is all about, a lung infection.

Most of us have misplaced anxieties and fears about is most likely to kill us, but those who fear death due to Covid have got it wrong. Risk factors, such as bad diets, tobacco use and high blood pressure, Unhealthy diets are anyway the known risk factor that causes one in five global deaths, raising the risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, among others. So, if those risk factors can anyway kill us in one way or the other, how different is Covid!

The anxiety, fear of Covid has resulted in much more health hazards than the Virus itself. People suffering from BP variation, Sugar level changes, depression, strokes and heart attacks are way more in numbers than the number of infected people in India.
I myself am a victim of indirect impact of Covid, than the Covid itself.

By now, many of you might think how irresponsible, immature, careless and disconnected I am. I have already heard these from my friends whenever I put across my view on the situation. I also have many friends questioning me "If educated people start thinking like this, what to expect from illiterates". Before getting into what illiterates and poor labours think, please be aware poor and labour class will anyway die, out of poverty and hunger, as majority of them have lost livelihood and source to earn to eat on a daily basis and they don't have luxury to sit at home and have opinions.

While I am fully aware of health complications, deaths caused due to Covid, let us also be aware a more common B.P. or just stress at work, leads to health complication and deaths, and why would Covid be any different, though the death rate is very low compared to all other possibilities of us meeting our end.

Now let's try to look at the numbers to be more objective, reasonable and scientific before we judge varied views.

For a country with 130 Cr population, 0.02% are infected with Covid. Recovery rate being 75%, mortality rate is under 2%.

And for people who argue "Why to take even 1% chance", here are more numbers just in India:

Daily deaths due to Heart attacks: 4000
Daily deaths due to Cancer: 2100
Daily deaths due to Stroke: 2000
Daily deaths due to Respiratory diseases: 1300
Daily deaths due to T.B: 1200
Daily deaths due to road accidents: 500
Daily deaths due to other reasons: 9000

The reality that there are several diseases causing a larger number of deaths in the world and India, might be of little comfort to those terrorised by the Covid-19 pandemic.

While We all are unanimous not only on the need to take every possible precaution against corona virus, both as individuals and as communities, but also on the need to avoid panic, being overly protective and stop being scared to lead even a "cautious" normal life.

What is that we are scared about? Covid killing us? And you are taking all precautions and even locked up at home just to not get infected, knowing there is only 0.02% chance of getting infected and 2% out of 0.02% chance of being killed by Covid.

And how long will we take these "precautions" and stay indoors? What if an effective vaccine reaches us all only by 2023?

What precautions are we taking to avoid road accidents, getting heart attack or stroke due to stress we get from work, life? Do we stop living, stepping out, working, knowing that there is a 10% chance of meeting with an accident or getting a heart attack?

Just an alternate viewpoint, as it's my personal opinion that Covid has harmed more on the livelihood and economy, than the health.
There are few medical experts who also claim nothing case save us from Corona, except our own Immunity system and the antibodies generated once we are exposed to the virus.
There is also an opinion that mortality rate is much lower in India, because of our strong Immunity system, which we Indians have acquired due to the harsh, unhygienic and Unhealthy conditions and environment we live in. So, why doubt the same Immunity system against Covid?

To conclude, although coronavirus certainly seems deadly in some cases, as most cases tend to be mild in nature, it perhaps doesn’t yet deserve the deadly reputation many people have. Definitely not worth the hype and importance given, to stop life!

Stay safe, stay indoors, avoid going out unless it is unavoidable, wash hands regularly, use Sanitizers, wear mask whenever you step out of home, do not stay at closed rooms for more than 10 minutes. Let's beat the virus together!

The Renaissance during Covid times

The Renaissance was a period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic “rebirth” following the Middle Ages. The Renaissance promoted the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature and art.

This could be our Renaissance, a period/phase of life where we re-build our life from the thumping setback Covid has caused.

Travel freaks that we are, were confined to home since 5 months now.
As we celebrated our 12th year wedding anniversary, it was our first time that we stayed home for an anniversary. We have etched memories of each anniversary that we celebrate at a new destination, this time was indeed a sober and dull one.

Unable to see our dejection and sad faces, our friends helped me plan a quick trip to Jog, as we always wanted to see the majesty and glory of Jog in these rainy seasons. All other times we have visited Jog so far has been at loss of vigor.

So, it was our first time that we were planning an outing, though only after a gap of 8 months (last one being Angriya Cruise and Goa in Jan 20), felt like 8 yrs!

We gave it a long thought, before finally deciding to go ahead with the plan, with the threat of Corona dangling on our heads and careful considerations.

It felt like our college days where we used to be so scared telling parents about a trip.

Fully aware of the Covid situation and the risks involved, I dialed Neena (Mini and Jone Hospitality) and she was at her usual best, suggesting comparatively safer place to stay near Sagar, and gave us a 2 day itinerary.
Apart from the risk of Covid, heavy rains lashing across Karnataka made it a concern.

Taking all precautions, We packed everything that made us feel safe, Masks, Sanitizers, Disinfectant sprays, bed spreads, umbrellas, jackets.

Excitement of stepping out, back to travelling days, we started our journey towards Chitradurga. We drove on Nidhi's Innova and Ranga's BRV, as we were 8 of us.

Remembered the days when parents used to plan trips eating out was never a choice for them. They used to pack food from home for the journey, thanks to Covid era, many such old healthy practices are back!

Shwetha had prepared Idly, Tea for all, Preeti had prepared Avalakki/Poha and Jyotsna had got us Sandwiches and Bakery stuff.


The happiness of being back on the highways made us take way too many stops.
The pleasant weather through out the drive made the journey happier that put smiles on everyone's faces.
It was cloudy all along, and once We entered the Bhadra & Sharavathi River Basins, the rich paddy fields and the green pastures were a treat to the eyes. We traveled along the path of the Bhadra river path and were amazed and thrilled to see the rich irrigation belt all along.

Daniel (Mini and Jones) ensured he was there to guide us with the route on the phone, he was in touch with me to ensure we reached safe. Even at end of the trip, he promptly took our feedback on the place and noted our concerns we had on the property.

We reached Hakkalalli Heritage Home by lunch time and checked in.
Mr. Gangadhar, the owner of the property was a very friendly host and made is comfortable.

The property was amidst thick forest. The nature, the rawness and humble environment was rustic in nature and had a good vibe about the place.

Sunil who is the co-owner and caretaker over there, took care of our needs extremely well.
Our initial inhibitions and concerns on the safety, fear of the virus quickly faded away as there were no other guests and we were the only group.

After a good homely meal, Sunil took us to the nearby Linganamakki Reservoir Backwaters.

The Backwaters and the natural landscapes around was a spectacular sight.
We were provided with Life Jackets and were taken inside the water...as we walked into the water, the depth kept rising and very soon our feet was struggling to find ground and we found ourselves in 20 Ft deep water, floating with the help of Life Jackets.

Srinidhi, Preeti and Sukruthi panicked and were scared, as Sunil kept dragging us deep in the water.
Preeti and Sukruthi didn't last long and went back to the edge of the water to join Shweta and Jyotsna as they preferred to sit in admiration of the nature's beauty and watch the rest of us have fun in the waters.

While Srinidhi still struggled to stay afloat, Sunil helped Srinidhi learn the tricks to keep swimming and stay afloat.
Ranga and Shravya were at ease and enjoying themselves. I had done this couple of times before in Goa, so I was quite comfortable.

It was a very good time spent swimming in the Backwaters, appreciating the beauty of the nature.

We drove back to the Homestay, as Srinidhi couldn't stop expressing how happy he was, as it was his first deep water swimming experience.

We had a good time back in the Homestay as we sat together, chit-chatting and receiving some good hospitality from the hosts Mr Gangadhar and Sunil, as they kept serving is Coffee, Tea, Snacks followed by dinner.

Though Hakkalalli Home is a Homestay and is not a Resort, few things including Room maintenance, Toilets could be improved and better maintained.
The innocence, hospitality, genuineness, simplicity of the smiling hosts and the nature compensated for some of the irritants with Room and Toilets for the ladies and kids. Though the quality and quantity of the Food served were good, bit of variety could be added.

Shravya and Sukruthi kept themselves busy, listening to music and happy in their own world.

Next day Morning, We woke up to incessant rains. It kept pouring down, as We had our breakfast at leisure, witnessing the enhanced charm of the place.

As it kept raining continuously without a break, we took our own sweet time to get ready, and checked out from the Homestay.

We headed towards Jog, our main agenda of the trip. As suggested by Neena and Sunil as well, we stopped at Charaka Angadi, which had a good collection of Khadi clothes. The women folks had their eyes wide open and ecstatic doing shopping together.

As we were nearing Jog Falls View point, we found at least 2 KMs long queue of Cars lined up in a huge traffic jam.
There was a huge inflow of Visitors probably due to Independence Day, weekend to witness Jog in its full glory as it's raining heavily in the catchment areas.

If long pile up of vehicles trying to get in, was not frustrating enough, many indisciplined drivers getting into wrong lanes making it a complete choke.

Unruly crowds, young men shouting and making irritating noise further discouraged us to try any further to get in.
While some of us thought it was not worth all the pain, as it will get very late to reach Bangalore, few others opined it's not safe to be amidst such huge crowd in these Covid times.
And we decided to return back, we were disappointed but we thought we were better off without the messy crowd.

We started driving back towards Bangalore, and stopped at The Fern Hotel Shivamogga. It was a great relief for the ladies and the kids as they were happy to use good, clean and sparkling floored Toilet.
We had a relaxing and leisurely Lunch and continued our journey. I explored a new route via Bhadravathi, Hosadurga, Hiriyur route (We usually take Chitradurga Route or Channarayapatna Route). It was raining constantly from Sagar till Bangalore and I loved driving Srinidhi's Innova on this lovely Hosadurga two-lane stretch, freshly laid road, less traffic.

We concluded yet another memorable trip.
It was rejuvenating, reviving of life back during these extremely disturbing, unprecedented low times. Much needed energy that we had to refuel our lost balance of life, health, finances and break from the scare and threat from Corona Virus!

We forgot that we were in Covid times, as the scare is only seen on TV News Channels, FB, Whatsapp and in Bangalore. Things looked so normal everywhere else, life seemed to be normal outside Bangalore.

It is good to be careful, cautious and be aware, but surely not psyched and scared with the Covid Virus.
We probably have realized this is the new normal - to use Sanitizers, wear masks and live your life. Covid could only lock me up at home for 5 months, I couldn't stay away from Travelling, touring beyond this point.

Travelling, visiting places could be risky in these Pandemic times, anyone could be a carrier, we also know not all are infected with Virus nor carriers. So striking a balance between being cautious, taking precautions and yet trying to live your life.