This photograph was taken on March 13, 2020, approximately after a month since the first patient was tested positive for COVID- 19 in Italy. If the desperate number of deaths due to coronavirus does not spurt you into self-isolation and social distancing, then I have something more frustrating for you. And I take a turn on Italy.
There is the fact that Italy’s current health care service system known as SSN provides free universal care to patients, and has one of the world’s best medical services in the world, but it is languishing due to being overburdened. It’s gainsaying that merely having medical facilities and extending them will not be of much effective help. The need of the hour is to not let it get infected through community transmission and spreading.
Italy witnessed its first coronavirus case on 20th February 2020, officially, when a 38-year-old woman tested positive. Though researchers and medical professionals believe that it was long before that it started circulating, it simply remained unnoticed and by the time they realized, there were a lot of existing transmission chains. Surprisingly, Italy has been the first country to ban flights to and from China.
Italy has witnessed a total of 189,973 cases, 25,549 deaths and 57,576 recovered cases. There are still 106,848 infected cases, out of which 104,581, that is 98% are in a mild condition and2267, that is 2% of total infected cases, are in serious or say critical situation. The gravity of the situation can easily be measured from the fact of the statement by Italian PM Giuseppe Conte terming the situation as ” the darkest hour” on March 9, 2020.
When we turn towards our country India, the situation is even more pathetic and shocking. If we don’t take it seriously, the grim glimpse of the crumbling situation of Italy is what awaits us if we fail to control the spread of the virus, we too will be running around helpless and hapless. Nothing else can help us, in the time of the outbreak of a pandemic.
Going for a routine check-up unnecessarily may not be that effective and in our best interest, except the fact that the capacity of hospitals will be swamped depriving others of their admittance. India witnessed the entry of the virus when the patient, a student from the city Wuhan – the epicentre of the epidemic, who was tested positive on 30th January 2020. India registered its first death due to the virus on March 13, 2020. As of April 24, we have 23,140 confirmed cases infected with the virus, which includes 723 deaths.
We are well aware of the already crumbling and dilapidated health care system in India, marred and plagued with corruption. The best remedy and cure which we have today is to advertise this rather unfortunate and pressing scenario through social distancing and self-isolation. Simultaneously, it’s also correct that distancing and self-isolation may not be the ultimate cure, but, as of now, it’s the best we can to definitely will halt the spreading of the virus.