The novel coronavirus has already reached our community although we sustain our denial of such possibility for indefinite time.
In many countries such as Russia, Belgium, Germany, UK, Denmark, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, with lockdown stringency ranging from over 63% to 93% with the duration of lockdown period ranging from as low as 6 days to 32 days have shown remarkable decline in coronavirus carriage rate among people.
Whereas in India, the lockdown stringency was 97.35% with over 41 days has only shown increased number of coronavirus positive cases (https://thewire.in/health/new-covid-19-cases-lockdown-india).
The above data clearly shows that the virus has already reached our community, different population and different villages are likely to spread everywhere with or without lockdown. Time has come, India must stop chasing the virus and must start thinking about how to provide the medical support to those develop medical complications due to novel coronavirus.
Viral transmission cannot be stopped in India. Putting people inside quarantine chamber or earmarking the areas as containment zones, preventing people to work for their livelihood, causing irreparable damage to our economy, all are only going end in digging the hole bigger and bigger in our vessel when the ship started to sink.
To save the ship from sinking, we are attempting to stop the waves and later realized that wind is the cause for the wave formation and hence started to stop the wind to learn again that without wind, we cannot survive.
Then our fantastic brain told us, water is the cause for the waves and we started to drain out all water in the sea. Without water man cannot survive. So the final option left before us was to kill all humans in the vessel so no one needs to worry about either waves or wind or water or why even the sinking ship. This is what is happening to India today.
We must rewind our time machine and goes back in time (a few months ago), only then we can realize where we went wrong. Our compulsive fear dominant brain suddenly made us to forbid science and we started to worship ghost and shadow. We have adopted the basic principle of the western world to contain coronavirus spread and that was to test, test and test and then quarantine, quarantine and quarantine.
What is that we are testing? Are we testing live virus or viral RNA? If viral RNA and live virus are one and the same, then the viral RNA that was detected by the metro water in sewage in Chennai should concern us more than anything.
But later it was confirmed that the RNA of coronavirus is different from the virus and cannot cause infection. How many of the people who were tested positive for RNA of coronavirus in India are true carries of live virus.
Have we simultaneously cultured the virus in appropriate cell lines at least as a part of our research strategy that would help us understand the virus better in future? If a clear correlation between viral RNA in people and the presence of live virus in more than 25% people tested by PCR and then the quarantine procedure is followed that make better scientific justification.
Otherwise are we not punishing people with too little science and too much precaution by running after the ghost or shadow of the virus?
Caution and preparedness are needed. But we must catapult out strategy not to just kill the virus but also to save humanity, life and livelihood. What actually the coronavirus is exploiting in India to spread itself? Is the dense population, poor habit of hand wash or hand sanitation, spitting and sneezing in public place, not wearing mask, not following social distancing?
None would have contributed as much to the virus to spread than our ignorance and inept science to chase the ghost or shadow of the virus. We imposed lockdown, killed the life and livelihood of people to save them from the virus.
The virus has used the fear and ignorance of the establishment as its working capital and future savings and started to spread everywhere.
We have concluded that novel coronavirus carriage is equal to COVID 19. The tragedy was all those who show no clinical symptoms were pushed inside the quarantine zone and those who showed signs were stuffed inside treatment centres.
The smart coronavirus would have purposefully left its shell (RNA) in some people where the virus could not attack the host, and then moved to a softer target. It made us to go after its shell or ghost or shadow and the real virus entered our community. The above possibility we cannot rule out.
We must let people and coronavirus to interact with each other and come to peace treaty soon by revoking the lock down and free people, like before. More we go after coronavirus, more slips and misses it would give us and by the way we will be killing our economy and livelihood of millions and millions of people.
When plenty of host is available, the virus may stop its panic and would accept Le Chatelier’s principle or the tenets of the book -ecological planning written by VN Sukachev, a famous Russian Forest botanist.
The choice before us is quite simple. People will deal the coronavirus because most of the people have started to follow all necessary norms; not to spread or contract the virus. When we use force and rules to deny the livelihood to millions, only then the problem starts. Time has come we must stop worshiping and following the ghost or shadow of novel coronavirus and must let people to deal the virus directly. The responsibility of the government must be limited to provide medical aid whenever is needed.
Let us come out of the wind, wave, water paradox in dealing the virus.
The virus-man interaction will cease soon or would reach its stability if man is the host or in other words, would attain climatic climax; when we set man and virus to run over each other to introduce and get introduced, familiarize and become friendly.
