“Cloud after cloud has gathered,
It gets dark,
Why do you put me down
Alone next to the door.”
—– (Gitanjali, Rabindranath Tagore)
Like the lines of the world famous poet Rabindranath Tagore, there is a terrible darkness of the pandemic called corona virus prevailing in the world at present. Although there is no such fear in this darkness in the line in above rhymes and the poet has decided to go out ignoring the fear of the darkness, but there is a similarity. Staying the whole day in the house is the key to overcoming this darkness. However, no one but the Creator can only say how long the time to stay in the house will last, when the golden glow of the new dawn will be seen at the end of this waiting period. Discovering the vaccine to conquer Corona, let a great man appear with the luminaire of light to remove the darkness of fear.
A little caution, sincerity and cleanliness can save the whole country, the nation and the world from the ravages of the corona virus. Physicians and medical personnel are now confident that they will be able to cope with the situation after initially being confused about how to deal with this highly contagious infectious disease due to lack of specific treatment and personal protective equipments. As a result of their hard work, the affected people are now recovering from the corona virus.
A military strategist emphasizes the importance of knowing the enemy well before fighting hundreds of enemies without any fear of defeat. But when the enemy is corona virus, against which mankind is waging a fierce war, is an enemy unknown to medical science as well which constantly manifesting new symptoms and infecting people silently. To medical science, corona virus is still like a puzzle where no specific drug or vaccine has yet been found to treat infected patients. In addition, the disease usually has flu-like symptoms that make it very difficult to diagnose weather it is Corona Virus or not. Medical science is still in the process of conducting research to develop vaccines and drugs to get rid of this deadly disease.
There are various deadlines as to when the corona virus vaccine may arrive, but doctors help patients with supportive treatments according to their symptoms to boost their immunity. They also recommend the use of certain types of antibiotics to protect the patient from minor infections. Even after being infected with Covid-19, those who have recovered after significant treatment in various hospitals and clinics have a personal hygiene and healthy lifestyle behind them. The whole scenario is the same in Bangladesh and all over the world. Around one-third of corona virus patients worldwide have already recovered from the illness through personal hygiene and adherence to specific hygiene rules. At the same time, a large number of them are already being treated in the hospital.
Although the mortality rate from this deadly virus is quite alarming, the hope is that the virus loses its activity day by day after crossing the critical stage of its four levels. However, the way everything is being opened up, even in a short range, in a populous country like Bangladesh, when the virus will reach its final level, it seems like to build castles in the air. However, there is no chance to look back when we are all in the fight against this virus medical science is working hard around the world and will soon find a way for us. All we need now is to be clean, to follow hygiene, to maintain social distance, and to seek medical attention as soon as the symptoms appear. Then we will surely be able to defeat the coronavirus.
But even in the ongoing war against this pandemic, our working class and the poor should not be forgotten. Their contribution to modern civilization is significant. They have to lead a life of inhumanity due to the ongoing lock down and get unemployed in holidays. The government and the rich need to come forward with help because if they lose, the country will lose a lot. I would like to say with a few lines of a favorite poet-
“O people of the city! O great soul,
Donate whatever you have,
Let the darkness end,
With all the people’s love, mercy and compassion! “
Let people from all walks of life come forward to help the poor. Let humanity win; May humanity win.
(Makama Mahmud Chowdhury is a student of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology).
