As on 03 May 2020, Britain has 182,000 confirmed cases and over 28000 deaths. That is almost highest number of cases next to USA. Earliest of the cases were reported in the beginning of January 2020. Heathrow airport has three direct flights to Wuhan every week. The second half of January when corona positive cases were being reported in China, about 2000 people flew in from China directly into England. By mid March as cases started doubling, the govt advised its citizen to restrict non essential travel. But the govt had still not declared total lockdown as people continued to move freely all across the country and Europe. March month was mostly confusion for Britain because the Prime Minister did not want economic problems associated with the lockdown to affect the country.

Herd Immunity Concept

A section of medical experts within the British Govt came up with the “Herd Immunity Concept”. As per this concept the virus is allowed to infect 60% of the population so that the majority develop immunity. This strategy of herd immunity was seriously considered by the govt till as late as 04 April 2020 despite protests by hundreds of health experts. Herd Immunity is a workable idea but it was conceived at a very early stage. To develop immunity, the virus has to be allowed to propagate through the population unrestricted. This will affect large number of people who do not have a well developed immune system. No country is equipped with the medical infrastructure to deal with such a load of patients. Firstly the idea itself was a mistake and the dilly dallying of the govt further compounded it.

#Lockdown is announced but it is not total

By 01 April the number of cases rose to 29,474. Total lockdown came into effect but like in India, it was not total. It was announced for an initial period of 3 weeks to be reviewed. Next day Health Secretary announced his ambitious plan to achieve testing of 1,00,000 people per day. By mid April the govt declared that effects of the lockdown were visible. But the number of cases more than tripled and crossed 100,000 mark. One month has passed and the number of cases has increased more than five times. Clear indication that the intensive testing plan is not working to curb the number of cases. There is no alternative to total lockdown.

• Testing is always done in batches. Once a batch is cleared, that batch is not going to be tested any time soon. Members of that batch if they move freely can get infected again. It gives them a kind of clearance certificate which might lead to complacency in social distancing norms.
• SARS CoV2 is a highly contagious virus. It spreads rapidly from human to human via touch. It can remain alive on surfaces for upto a few days. The more social distancing followed, the more cases can be kept under control.
• Not all infected people will show symptoms. People can remain completely asymptomatic for the few weeks that virus stays in their body. However they can still infect others.
• Crowded places or places visited by large number of people like malls and cinema halls or places of tourist footfall are likely places of mass transmission. Public transport is another such place where community transmission can happen.
• People infected with the virus need ventilator and ICU support. This can easily overwhelm the medical infrastructure of any country.
• Sub standard test kits are another headache for the govt, especially when imported from a foreign country.

World now has to live to stay with coronavirus disease. The virus is not going to disappear overnight. Either we develop anti-bodies and immunity or follow strict social distancing norms. India choose the best approach to first enforce a total lockdown while the country readied its medical infrastructure. Lockdown cannot be permanent but now the economy can be opened in phases and govt is prepared. It is time the colonial masters learn a few things from us instead of sheltering economic defaulters like Vijay Mallya and championing the cause of Indian prison conditions. Hearing the appeal of known economic defaulter of Kingfisher Airlines, a London court asked for a video of Arthur Road jail to check how much light is provided to inmates. The court further went on to say that it cannot take the assurances of Govt of India and want to see the actual arrangements. Misplaced priorities of the rulers of Britain continues.

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Just how tiny is a virus

A bacteria is visible under an optical microscope which you commonly see in a science lab. It is one micrometer in size which is one thousandth of an mm. Human hair is the size of 1 mm. If we split a hair right in the middle about 1000 times, then one strand will be the size of a bacteria. A virus is 100 times smaller than a bacteria. It takes an electron microscope to view a virus.

Did you know that – The largest virus is almost the size of a bacteria and was present on earth about 34000 years ago. It remained under frozen ground at Siberia for hundreds of centuries till the layers of ice melted and the virus was exposed and revived by scientists in year 2000. It was not that they were actually looking, but from time to time scientists dig up frozen ground to uncover the mysteries of ancient. One group of old virus were found in Tibetian Glaciers which could be 15,000 years old. Virus mutate all the time to create new versions of themselves.

Virus was discovered accidentally in 1886 after the discovery of a special kind of porcelain filter. This filter was believed to filter all kinds of bacteria. However plants were still getting ill despite the use of this filter which led the scientists to believe that there has to be a tinnier form of germ which must be passing through the filter and affecting the plants.

How a virus affects a body

A virus needs a host to survive and multiply. Virus consists of a strand of DNA or RNA with a coating of protein. In contrast, bacteria is a single cell living organism. A virus enters a body and attaches itself to a healthy cell. It inserts the strand of DNA in the cell and this begins the destruction process of the cell. The virus attack continues till the cell dies. If somehow the cell is able to resist the entry of the DNA strand, your body is safe from the effects of the virus. Also remember if one cell dies in the body, another cell will be created in its place. Bacteria infection like tuberculosis is cured by antibiotics but in case of virus, the body has to fight off the infection by creating antibodies. Vaccination prevents the virus affecting the cells in the body and helps create antibodies. HIV was discovered almost 40 years back and there is no vaccination developed yet.

New virus are created every now and then

Basic aim of a virus is to replicate and spread. This is how even computer virus are designed. Viruses not only replicate but can mutate into new strains. Sometimes they jump species, and other times they come out from the deep dark forests. HIV virus is believed to have come to humans by consumption of bush-meat. Coronavirus is a category of virus and in this group, just like others new virus are either replicated or jump from species. But whenever a new virus is discovered, first its family is determined and then it is named. The first coronavirus were discovered in 1960s, in humans and chicken. They were named human coronavirus 229E and human coronavirus OC43. Later we discovered MERS-CoV in 2012 and SARS-CoV-2 in 2019.

How COVID-19 got its name

COVID-19 is the short form or abbreviation of Coronavirus disease. WHO is responsible for naming new virus. They initially named it 019 novel coronavirus but this name is no longer in use. The virus causing COVID-19 is named SARS-CoV-2 or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. SARS-CoV-2 has a structure similar to bat coronavirus. This has led scientists to believe that the virus has jumped species from bats to humans. Initial lot of patients originated for the Huanan Seafood Market leading to suspicion that the virus traveled from wild animals to humans. The name seafood market means nothing because all kinds of meat is sold here openly including endangered animals. Anything from badgers to deer, peacock, bats and even donkeys and crocodiles are sold here. China has recently brought in a legislation baning the sale of “exotic” meat in Chinese markets. This legislation does not include use of animal parts in traditional Chinese medicine.

The oriental craze for exotic animals

China is the most populous country in the world with India coming up close. Chinese consume animals for food on an unprecedented scale. Chicken, pigs, rabbit and cattle is regular but not enough. Dogs, cats, emu, ostrich, reindeers, camels, donkeys are farmed for meat. Mink, silver fox, arctic fox and so on are farmed for fur. All these animals are officially permitted to be used for food consumption. The list is quite long and scary too. For years animal rights activists have tried to spread awareness and stop the barbaric practices adopted while rearing and slaughtering these animals. This scale of consumption is due to the predominant non-vegetarian eating profile of Chinese. Because the problem just begins here. Farming and rearing animals takes some sort of expenditure which is almost zero cost for wild animals. You just have to catch them. Huanan Seafood market which is believed to be the ground zero for the COVID-19 infection lists 75 wild life species which can be purchased for consumption. Frogs, snakes, foxes, wolf puppies, deer, peacocks, porcupines, beavers, crocodiles and so on. Wild animals are also hunted for their body parts used in traditional Chinese medicine. Tiger reproductive organs and rhino horn is used in preparing medicines. The animals are killed just for these parts.

It is not just China but the entire south east asian countries who are involved in the hunting and trade of wild animals. Birds to be kept as caged pets are in great demand all over the world. Parrots, songbirds, reptiles are captured to be sold as pets. Wild life consumption as food was not there earlier. It also began as a craze to do something different and show off on social media. Bloggers and influencers showing off by eating wild animals as exotic food.

Need, greed and breed

When you see a tribal person cutting down a tree to build a house deep in the reservations land, these people have been in harmony with nature for centuries. It is done to satisfy their basic needs. As part of their routine life, they carry out conservation activities. Then we have hunters and smugglers. They catch and kill wild animals for food, pets trade, fur, purses and belts, entertainment tourism and export. These are those who are greedy with what they want. They are fully aware that they are causing lot of harm conducting illegal activities, but it does not affect their conscience any longer. Finally there is a breed amongst us who do it because they like it. Rolls Royce Phantom extended wheel base is one of the most expensive car sold in India. With a price tag of 12 crore, it has 100 litre petrol tank and returns a claimed mileage of 10 kmpl. It can reach the speed of 100 kmph in 5.4 seconds. Top speed is 250 kmph. It is fitted with 130 kgs of insulation material which shuts all unwanted noise from outside. It also has a CD player! The people who thought of having such a monster on road and those who ride in it are typical examples of breed. The earth provides for the need of everyone but not their greed.

Bottom line

Even though we are the dominant species on the planet, we misuse the most. We forget that everyone on this earth, birds, plants, animals, bacteria and virus has been part of this planet for centuries. They have an equal right to be here. The moment we take this right for granted, this virus is natures way of replying back. It is not a revenge act, but a cry that this is enough.

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Why is everybody asked to stay home?
India is in Second Stage of COVID-19 outbreak. This means that we are able to track cases of travellers who have come back possibly infected from foreign countries. Stage three means people get infected locally. This will cause the virus to infect large number of people. So the spread of the virus has to be contained in Stage Two.

Why is virus infection happening to only humans and not birds or animals?
Virus have been around for hundreds of years. It came along with life forms on earth. Virus infects all life forms, even bacteria. Crops also get virus. In few cases virus mutate to form a new virus. In other cases virus jumps from animals to humans. In case of HIV virus, it is believed that the virus came from the wild animals consumed as bush meat in Africa. And then it started infecting humans. SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes coronavirus disease is also believed to come from wild bats.

If virus has been there for so long, why are scientists not been able to develop a medicine?
There are two ways to address a virus in human body. If the virus has already entered the body then you have to wait for the virus to run its course and the body to fight off the infection. Otherwise a vaccination is the most effective way to prevent a virus from doing damage in the body. In case of a new virus such as SARS-CoV-2, the only thing the world needs is a vaccine. It takes years to develop a vaccine. Some virus like in case of HIV, scientists have not been able to discover a vaccine for last 40 years!

If so many advisories are given by govt and doctors, why are people not listening?
Universal rule works in the ratio of 50-50. If you have 100 people known to you, roughly 50 of them won’t like you. In the same way, if govt gives advisory, around half the people will not follow it. There might be many reasons, some would not be in a position to follow the advisory, some who voted against the govt will have inherent hatred for govt policies. India is a huge nation and a large population.

Above answers explained in detail

Viruses has been on earth since hundreds of years. When a virus enters the body, it enters cells of any organ of your body. There it starts multiplying and affecting the healthy cells. For some humans with a better immune system, the virus is thrown out of the body without them even coming to know. In majority of the cases, the body’s defense mechanism automatically raises the temperature of the body to fight off the virus.

In case of COVID-19, there are many people who are infected with the SARS-CoV-2. but show no symptoms. But they are still the carriers of the virus. It is in their blood, logged in their respiratory tract. It will come out through mouth and nose. If an infected person sneezes, there is a chance that the virus will spread in the air and affect people in the immediate vicinity. That is why it is necessary to practice social distancing in public places.

The virus mainly spreads by touch. An infected person leaves traces of virus of public places like lift buttons or door knobs. Virus can remain alive on surfaces for a few hours. If an uninfected person touches such a surface, the virus sticks to the fingers. But at this point the person is still safe. Because till the time the person does not touch the nose or mouth, the virus cannot enter the body. In a day, we touch our faces 300 to 400 times. For these reasons there are precautions as follows.

• Wash hands after you come from outside with soap and water.
• If outside, use alcohol based hand sanitizer.
• Keep social distance of atleast one meter from others.
• Avoid crowded places
• If you are having symptoms, please get checked immediately.

Vaccination for SARS-CoV-2 is being worked on by top pharma companies of the world. But the task is not easy because it is such a sub microscopic being. To understand how the body reacts and how antibodies are generated in body. First there will the data followed by clinical trials. But success in getting a vaccine is either a hit or miss. Hence the only option is stay in lock down to break the chain of transmission and maintain social distance.

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