Hello guys ! This is the 26th day. I’m sitting in my couch by the window. 😌 I found it very interesting how my colleges have dealt the situation. This would be a historical blog. 🔥 One day we will read this stuff by ourselves. So it is good to have a brief summary. For the first time whole world is frozen and locked down.
When I go through my diary, I found a short account on 30th November 2013. ‘Fast and Furious actor Paul Walker dies in Califonia car crash –BBC’ I went through the account and found that I was in the school auditorium on that day. The news of demise was spreading among us. We were in a film show. The film was 2012(An American disaster film). We were joking about the illusions. We thought that these films are bullshit and won’t happen ever. But now it happens. I am one of a crowd of people that love science fiction and experience the science fiction addiction. Over the years the imagination of many science fiction authors has quite valid and their flight of fancy now appears in actually.
Back to the diary… Before writing anything, I thought to check my diary again. It was 7th January 2020. There was a short note. It was about a tiny virus. The day was important. It was the day which Chinese authorities identified the corona virus that causes pneumonia-like illness as a new type of corona virus. Those days it was just a news for us.
Things went soft and smooth. Most of us stick into studies while many things happen in the world. This is interesting. We were passing 7th 8th weeks of our 2200 academic series. Mid-term examinations were held as scheduled before. We were in a tight schedule. There were some assignments to be submitted. Ongoing practicals were there in engineering department and in biology department.
It was 12th March 2020. We had few papers as scheduled. On the specific date, we had our Plant physiology mid-term examination. Right after finishing that we had to change our mindset toward economics. Day after that day; it means 13th March 2020 it was scheduled to have our economics mid-term examination. Rumors went here are there. Decision on school closure from the day after that day until 20th April 2020 was announced. It was due to the terror of Covid-19 outbreak. But we were cramming for our mid-term examination. There were some telephone calls from my parents. They were asking about the vacation. But we knew nothing what would happen to us. We were in a terrible situation. From one side it was Corona and in other side it was our mid-term examination. In the evening we had a chit chat with our neighboring roommates. One of them told, ‘Believe me my friend, we won’t have our mid tomorrow. All we have to do is to pack all the stuff and to leave early in the morning.’ But there were no any announcements. It was quite funny that we were with that mindset even at the mid night. In the following day, early in the morning, I woke up and checked whatsapp whether red dot balls are appeared, telling all of us to leave. No guys ! Nothing was there. Nothing went wrong. We sat for the exam. Right after the exam we were received the expected notice. A decision has been taken by the University authorities with the instruction of UGC, to close University for the period of two weeks. We were asked to leave the premises before 5 pm on 14th March 2020.
We got the wings of joy.🤩 Campus closure is a sad news; true ! But due to the tight schedule, we were in a pathetic situation. Another quiz and a mid-term paper were there to be held on the next week.
I and my better half had a strong cup of tea from faculty canteen and equipped with some movies. There were promising thoughts about the sudden vacation. Due to long vacation I had to go by bike. Journey was started after checking tires and petrol. We had to travel about 100 km. We missed our lunch. So it was the time for our lunch. But we managed not to eat from a crowded café. We found an ideal food café called The kITCHEN at Katugasthota. Mile by mile we were wrapped by the feeling of safety. Finally we were safe at homes. I managed to keep the stuff outside and to clean myself properly before entering home. I was at my home with my beloved family members.
After few days, both my mother and father got their vacation. My father was appointed as the new driver of my mother. She had to attend office once in three days. Both managed to clean themselves before entering home. Handwash, soap, extra slippers, cloths were placed outside when they come. Life at home is very nice. We had some chit chat; argued; joked; laughed.
I had few assignments to be done. During the first week, I was busy with them. Each and every day we managed to play badminton. I had my MI bicycle with me. I and my brother enjoyed riding bicycles. I had a todo list. Day by day I managed to cut things from it.
If you have a jack tree in your backyard, you know what’s happening these days. ‘Kos’ , ‘Polos’ are there for you. Sometimes Kos is steamed and eaten with Pol sambol. Sometimes kos mellum is there for us. When we find Wela, pleasure is multiplied. You know what nature has rewarded us. Happiness and simplicity outbreak.
My grandma is the happiest woman, these days. We all are at home. She prepares different things for us. She has her own recipes. Day by day movie bank bankrupted. Few days before I started watching the same movie over and over again. It was boring. A nice thing happened. It was an offer by dialog. Now they offer all the channels free of charge. Happiness flooded. There is lot to watch. HBO, Star movies, Ten sports, Food network… no more boring evening.
Though the things go smooth for us, there is a real struggle going on. Saddest part is yet to be revealed. 😥 Let me take you to some technical details about Covid-19. They should be written and preserved. This would be a historical blog.
When we take Covid-19, it is found that 96% DNA matches between bat corona virus and human found in a study from februar. They suggest that the link to human is not direct. Initially pangolins were suspected. But still now it’s unclear. Virus is made up of 4 proteins and a strand of RNA. One protein is the spike, which gives the crown like appearance. Two proteins sit in the membrane between the spikes to provide structural integrity. In the membrane, the fourth protein is a scaffoid around the genetic material.
Virus enters through nose, mouth, or eyes. They attaches to cells in the respiratory tract producing a protein called ACE2. It fuses with the cell and releases the RNA; the hijacked infected cell will produce proteins based on the ‘Instructions’ from the virus RNA. This affects upper respiratory tract and can spread to lungs.
Chloroquinone, Kaletra, Interferon alfa-2b, Remdesivir like drugs are some promising drugs to treat Covid-19. But these are at the stage of testing. These drugs are used to target replication ability of virus, to stimulate the immune system to shut down Protein production, to decrease the overstimulation of other parts of the immune system etc. Europe has become the epicentre of the crisis. World Health Organization declares this as a pandemic on 11th March 2020.
What is a ‘Pandemic’ ! There are two definitions by two different organizations.
‘A pandemic is the worldwide spread of a new disease. An influenza pandemic occurs when a new influenza virus emerges and spreads around the world, and most people do not have immunity.’(WHO)
‘Pandemic refers to an epidemic that has spread over several countries or continents, usually affecting a large number of people.’(US CDC)
Now I focus on the history of contagious diseases spread. In 14th century Bubanic Plague was found. Later from 1918-1920 worldwide Influenza Epidemic was found. Recently we find some familiar outbreaks. In 2002 to 2004 Corona type virus SARS was reported. 8098 cases were found. Among them 774 deaths were reported. 1 in 10 people were killed from infection. (Source – www.Nhs.k ) Due to the swine flu 203000 people were died worldwide in 2009. (Source – www.livescience.com) Ebola outbreak was found from 2014-2016. It caused 11310 deaths. 28616 cases were reported. (Source – www.cdc.gov)
When it comes to Corona, different testing methods are followed by different countries. In Korea large share of population has tested (at random) But in Italy, they have tested only worst symptomatic cases.
Covid-19 has become the worst crisis of our times. A strong excess demand for health care has arisen. ICU beds and ventilators have become the most essential items in the world.
( Source – The economics of pandemic case of Covid-19, by Prof. Paolo Surico and Prof. Andrea Galeotti, Professors of Economics at London Business School )
I should brief the current situation. According to the World Health Organization data, 1,464,852 confirmed cases are found worldwide. From them 85,367 people were reported as dead. 315,105 people were reported as recovered. When it comes to Srilanka, there are 189 cases. From them 7 died. 44 patients are reported as recovered for now. When it comes to US, there are about 417,206 confirmed cases. 14,183 people were found dead. In Italy 139,422 cases were reported. From them 17,669 people were dead.
But it is unfair to deal with these numbers. The population is not same in every country. So there is an another figure called cases per one million people. When we deal with that Srilanka shows 8.53 cases per million while US and Italy show respectively 1,265.96 cases per million , 2,314.31 cases per million. But now China shows 58.35 cases per million. Compared to other countries Srilanka is in a better position. 💪 We have to keep it up. Different countries pass different stages of outbreak.
(Source - WHO.int – 23.50 pm on 8th April 2020,Health Promotion Bureau)
This is not a time to make fun of. 🤐 We are passing the most crucial phase of outbreak. 🔥 We all have the responsibility to join hand with the authorities.
The real situation is just like a science fiction. The figures, the new knowledge is same as what we see in Contagion, Train to Busan, Twelve Monkeys like movies. World has become sick and its healing.
I remember what my father told me few days ago. He told me that he hadn’t got such a break ever since he got the job. There are some good aspects of this break. But it is relative. The freedom we got should not be miss used. Really this would be a great opportunity for all of us to identify the hidden strengths within us. Now it’s the time to wide up this chit chat.
Hope to see you guys soon!...🙏 Stay safe and blessed. Not the god but your good will bless you and protect you. 🍀🍀
Gimila Chandula
Faculty of Agriculture
University of Peradeniya
Good one malli 😊
ReplyDeleteIt's superb❤
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