Covid-19 - Quo Vadis ?

By Dr Nihal D Amerasekera

With Covid-19 we are in unknown terrain, wild and untrodden. It’s a new disease for which there is no treatment or vaccine. The real incubation period is in doubt. There are many theories in circulation about the virus. We do know the virus is mutating but still unclear how effective the tests and the vaccines will be. No one knows if re-infections are possible. It is still not clear if face masks are a help or a hindrance. Basically we know nothing for certain except what we know about the common cold. While learning we are playing it by ear!!

The world has been caught napping and totally unprepared. Countries rich and poor were happily getting on with waging war, amassing wealth, using up the natural resources and destroying the environment.Through our loss of common sense and lack of perspective we have become enemies of nature. We have endangered some animal species to extinction by destroying their habitat. Did the virus spread to humans from wild animals? When world bodies like the United Nations are powerless to act, out comes a virus which is making us think of our planet and its inhabitants differently. We must respect the planet its plants and animalsfor the sake of the future generations.

Busy cities have falleneerily silent likeghost towns. The Pandemic has shutdown life as we know it. The lockdowns and curfews have an enormous economic cost to the nations. There are personal costs to families and for jobs and income. Staying locked in for long periods can be mentally draining. In some countries noisy demonstrations have begun with people carrying placards wanting to start work again. This does increase the pressure on governments to relax the draconian rules. There are dark warnings that if released too early it will cause a second wave of the infection as happened in Hokkaido, Japan. No one really knows how and when to free the people from this incarceration. Politicians are under the cosh and get little sympathy from an exasperated public.

As tears fall and fear spreads many thousands have died worldwide of Covid-19. We all have become immune to the numbers as they escalate daily. Each death is a tragedy for family and friends which the statistics do not truly represent.

With a catastrophic misfortune of this scale affecting the whole world I wish there is a reset button to restart and make the world a better place, while retaining the good we have achieved so far. Despite many thousand years of human existence, religion, politics and our innate goodness we have failed to eradicate poverty and inequality.Socialists, communists and capitalists are all in it together to preserve the status quo. Countries spend many millions on firearms and nuclear weapons when people still die of starvation. How wonderful it would be to share our expertise, healthcare, food and above all our wealth with the whole world. Human greed, selfishness and avarice makes this an impossible dream.

This is a time for the countries to unite and share our resources to combat the infection. It is important we learn from this how to avoid and prevent a recurrence in the future. Let us assume there will be another epidemic sometime in the in the years ahead and be better prepared whenever it comes. Human history is studded with accounts of deadly pandemics from the plague to smallpox to yellow fever and a multitude of different types of influenza that have arisen in several different countries. Infectious diseases have been a constant human companion as we began to disperse and spread across the globe. Let us stop the blame game and remain united.

There are some unintended consequences of the lockdown. Reading and writing and spending quality time with the children are some of the many positives. A kiss on the cheek is a standard greeting in France. The French women are pleased not having to kiss anymore avoiding the halitosis of some the male work colleagues. It looks like this age old habit of social integration will be lost forever. Incidents of domestic abuse has been on the increase. Those close encounters can be serious and people need help. It seems many wives are pleased their husbands are at home and cannot disappear into pubs and bars in the evenings. They are unable to hog the television to watch cricket, rugby and football. The Biblical phrase “Idle mind is the devil’s workshop” has stood the test of time. In UK the alcohol consumption has increased severalfold during the lockdown. I tried to order some wines and many of the finer wines were out of stock. Lord Bacchus is well known for his amorous incarnations. Thankfully, social distancing ends at the front door. Much can be achieved with a bunch of roses bought online.A romantic candle-lit dinner is still possible with a rapidly delivered oven fresh pizza. They now expect a baby boom in 9 months.

Itwas illuminating and enlightening to read about an order of Nuns who live in lockdown all their lives.I did learn much from their in-depth training, discipline and wisdom. They decide early on who does what at the convent. At home I am a poor cook and do the washing up badly. As a result I’m banned from those activities. Like at the convent, at home, we maintain silence as much as possible. It is so very therapeutic, gives time to reflect, dream and meditate. In the convent there is a pecking order which is harder to establish at home where we work as a team!!Although an exaggeration this is basically true.An element of humanity and humour are of enormous help too. Finally the Nunsrecommend finding time to practise thankfulness for the good things we still have in our lives. These are quite easily overlooked in the cut and thrust of life.

Many use Technology to maintain digital contact with friends and family using Zoom, WhatsApp and Facetime. The virus is here to stay and the infection will remain a threat for many years to come. South Korea has started to use digital surveillance to trace the infected and their contacts using smartphone apps. Electronic wrist bands and phone tracking are used to trace the whereabouts of people in Hong Kong and Taiwan. This may be less acceptable in the West with a strong and long-established civil liberties lobby and legislature going back to the Magna Carta of 1215.

Social distancing, hand washing, testing, contact tracing and isolation have been the bedrock of the measures used to control the infection. Only way we can overcome this pandemic is by the use of an effective vaccine or anti-viral therapy together with herd immunity. There is much talk of research into vaccines and the production of a magic pill but nothing is available so far. I am often reminded of how long it took to get an effective treatment for HIV - not months but years. An exit strategy for the lockdown may be around the corner but we won’t be rid of this scourge for many more months or years to come.

Amidst this mayhem the saving grace has been that the children are less prone to the infection and is less severely affected than adults. They too can get the disease.Children are affected by the fallout from the lockdown. No school means no formal teaching and no social interaction with friends. The psychological effects of a prolonged lockdown are real. What we all remember of our childhood are the care-free days of playing with friends, weekends out with the family and holidays spent faraway. Now, all these seem a long way away.

The death toll in the UK is horrendously high, 20 thousand and rising. Age-wise I am in the at- risk group in the ‘wrong end’ of the age spectrum.The virus will hit us the hardest. I take comfort that I’ve lived most of my life already. How do I feel with death hanging over me? It is like being in death-row with a pending appeal and a chance of a reprieve. I’m in prison and no visitors are allowed. The sentence will be lifted only when an effective treatment or a vaccine is available. I have lost my freedom but am lucky to be alive.

WHO? Oh! The W.H.O. The part played by the World Health Organisation in this epidemic has come into question and intense criticism. A well-known politician took impish delight in an attempt to relegate the WHO into the dustbin of history. The WHO does much of their work away from the public glare hence they are less understood and less well appreciated. There are some unanswered questions about their actions and effectiveness in this present crisis. From any such organisation we all expect a good performance, transparency and cost effectiveness. There will be much closer scrutiny in the future.

It’s been doom and gloom so far. Human history is littered with predictions of the end of the world. A meteor strike ended the world of dinosaurs. The Spanish flu caused 50 million deaths and affected a quarter of the world’s population. Will this microscopic organism with a visible crown bring us total annihilation?My generation will know what I mean when I say “Laughter is the best Medicine”. In these uncertain times I appreciate enormously the subtle humour of those graffiti artistes. Their ‘Confucius’ like aphorisms have amused and entertained us since time began: “The end of the world is nigh - beat the rush and buy your lottery ticket”.