Bill Gates once said “the worst pandemic in modern history was the Spanish flu of 1918, which killed tens of millions of people. Today with how interconnected the world is, it would spread faster” . These words weren’t given much limelight back then but in the existing conditions we have realized that these words have a lot of weightage. The outbreak has not just brought a pause to our lives but is also making many disheartened, as they cannot step out of their homes. There have been plenty of changes we have been asked to do in our daily life. The present day million dollar question is when will the pandemic end?
This isn’t the first time our world has been hit by a pandemic. There have been diverse outbreaks in the former times. Apart from the Covid-19 outbreak which is the leader on the board, the world has experienced 20 more deadly pandemics. But we have been successful in conquering all the battles. To overcome a pandemic we could adopt one of the three possible strategies which are; allow the pandemic to spread , hold up till a successful vaccine is formulated or isolate the virus.
The first method includes not imposing any restrictions on the spread of the pandemic and letting it escalate as soon as possible. The strategy behind this technique is herd immunity. As almost everyone is infected by the disease their body has an enhanced immunity against the disease. But this practice could lead to death of a great population. This practice could be of great importance if the pandemic has a negligible death rate. The second method is to hold back the spread of the pandemic with minimal possible measures we could adopt without affecting our economy much till a vaccine is worked out. This is an unpredictable measure as time for preparation of vaccine could be unknown depending on the technical support available .The last possibility is starving the virus. The use of measure like social distancing and isolation are the hero of this method. This method could lead to a breakdown in economy and also hamper the livelihood of many. This is the safest measure but is also the slowest.
Different countries have adopted different measures. The measure adopted by USA can be categorized as the first technique. They have been in constant support for the reopening of the countries economy and also other services including schools. But most of the countries including India are adopting the second measure that is reopening as minimal services as possible and waiting for a vaccine . Countries like Saudi Arabia and Argentina have taken the big step of imposing a curfew.
All these methods have certain setbacks and despite whatever method the government adopts we all need to fulfill our part. We need to learn from the pandemic that we need to maintain the hygiene, care for our bodies and have a healthy lifestyle. We have to make sure we need to be ready to face difficulty in life but we also need to find a way to cope with it. This inspiration is everywhere in nature, it's in the observer's eyes to see if he can find it or not.
So stay safe, stay healthy and take care of your loved ones
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