Coronavirus: Are We Nearing a Chaos!?
Apparently, yes!
It was only two and a half months ago, we were quite happy, celebrating and witnessing fireworks on the New Year’s Eve. Most of us were making resolutions for the 2020 and a few of us were relishing the fact that 2020 would be a fresh start. New year, new beginnings. However, none of us had even the slightest idea that only after seventy some days, we would be nearing a chaos in the form of a pandemic, named Coronavirus.
We were all happy and enjoying our time, ignorant of the future that only after two and a half months into 2020, the whole world would be in a state of lockdown, global economy would be in shambles, travel bans would be imposed, supply of goods would be disrupted, trade and human mobility would be compromised and a sense of fear, anger and confusion would end up engulfing a major chunk of human population on the planet Earth.
Who saw that coming!?
Coronavirus, born in and spread from a wet market in Wuhan, China, has affected almost 126,000 people across 114 countries and thousands have already lost their lives.
A couple of weeks ago, only China, Iran and Italy had confirmed cases of Coronavius and the rest of the world was still not fazed by this idea that this virus might end up affecting them as well. Countries like US and England remained indifferent, not taking essential preventive measures and not formulating policies to encounter the possible outbreak of the disease. Especially the US, where the President Trump doesn’t seem to have any answer to the recent outbreak of Coronavirus and has sowed more confusion and hysteria, while addressing the Americans today.
Furthermore, given the current trajectory of Coronavirus and its exponential spreading, coupled with the negligence and incompetence of many states, it is likely that there will be more cases of Coronavirus in the near future and more countries will have to bear the brunt of this disease.
As the crisis has now deepened, the effected countries are taking all possible measures to somehow survive through this chaotic period. As of today, US has imposed travel ban on flights to Europe, Italy has further tightened the nationwide quarantine, other countries such as KSA, Singapore, Qatar and Iran have accelerated their efforts to somehow stop the exponential spreading of the disease. Iran has even requested IMF for 5bn$ emergency fund to help it fight the Coronavirus outbreak.
Although, Coronavirus has already paralyzed the normalcy of human life to the worst possible extent, yet one can expect even worse, if this pandemic doesn’t cease to spread.
Moreover, Coronavirus has also resulted in the cancellation and suspension of a number of sports events across the globe. which is quite devastating for sports fanatics like me. On Monday, I woke up to the news that there would be no Indian Wells as there was a confirmed case of Coronavirus in Coachella Valley. Later, I got the news that there would be no Miami Open as well and then they said, there would be no tennis whatsoever for the next 6 weeks. Today, as I checked Twitter, I came to know that NBA had also been suspended till further notice. Furthermore, Europe’s top flight football leagues have been suspended and as it stands, it is quite unlikely that Euro 2020 would happen. Same goes for Tokyo 2020 as the Olympics Federation is considering the postponement, given the severe outbreak of Coronavirus.
So, are we really nearing a chaos!? Apparently, yes! The state of lockdown, travel restrictions, diving global economy, rattled human population, shutting down of educational institutions, declaration of health emergency and above all, a sense fear and panic, all this suggests nothing but that we are certainly nearing a chaos, if not already amid it.
However, I am of the view that we can still protect ourselves from falling down in this quagmire. Although I am not a health professional, yet even I know that by taking quite simple and easy steps, we can still prevent this outbreak. Washing hands regularly, using face-masks, refraining from large gatherings and above all, by implementing the schemes of Social Distancing, Coronavirus can be prevented. And as China has shown, it is treatable as well. Hence, this chaos is quite avoidable.
For the time being, I can only say that it is high time for us to take necessary measures to stop this outbreak. By spreading awareness, taking essential preventive steps, formulating and implementing right policies, we can still save ourselves and the others. In short, a chaos is approaching, for sure, but we can still avoid it.
