APOCALYPSE

India, the world’s second largest populated country, had gone through a stringent 70-day nationwide lockdown to halt the spread of COVID-19. But the outcome is highly disappointing as the number of patients testing positive is increasing with each passing day. In fact, India is the second worst-hit country by the pandemic with its numbers soaring past the 5.4 million mark and accounts for almost 17% of all cases in the world. The deadly virus is threatening cities and communities, endangering not only public health, but also the economy and the fabric of the Indian society casting a deep multidimensional impact that has proven to be disruptive. During the lockdown, the Indian economy’s losses amounted to over US$4.5 billion every day. It has triggered the worst economic recession in decades. As the quarantine dragged on, 121 million Indians ended up out of work with some 19 million salaried, formal economy jobs having been wiped out after the lockdown, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy. But the big question is when will it be safe to re-emerge? December 30th? March 2021? June? Or August ‘21? Here's the real answer: Never. It will never be safe for at least next two years. Social distancing, staying at home, and frequent hand sanitization- all of these measures were not to cure COVID-19. These were measures to slow it down, so as to not overwhelm the healthcare system. For the most part, we've done that. It does not change the virality of the disease, or how it spreads from one person to another. It has no effect on the mortality rate. It was intended to slow it down. But as soon as we emerge, the virus will spread again and those with weakened immune systems will still succumb to it. This is a harsh fact. The people who missed it this time, might get it next time. The temporary solution is detox yourself for next couple of years or until a suitable vaccine is found... it’s that simple.