Lessons to learn from the COVID-19 pandemic

At different times the world has witnessed sufferings from epidemics of different types, natural disasters like earthquakes, flood, tsunami, manmade tragedies of communal violence, and terrorism.

- VARGHESE ALENGADEN

We have witnessed death and destruction during wars. Two world wars had killed millions of innocent human beings in different countries, caused unending pollution in the world. Though these tragedies, epidemics and calamities affected a particular country or a few countries at a particular time, they did not affect the whole world like the COVID-19 pandemic.

When China was first affected by the Coronavirus and people were dying in Wuhan, other countries took it as an ordinary epidemic which had affected a particular region in faraway China. Nobody was aware of the seriousness of this virus which is faster and more powerful than any missile used in modern warfare. Even after signs of the virus were detected in other countries they took it for granted as an ordinary health problem. Powerful developed countries were complacent with their advanced medical and scientific facilities. By the time the virus spread from one part of the country to the other, crossed boundaries, and flew across the oceans, these countries stumbled before its ruthless invasion.

Within few days, all the fifty states of America were captured by the deadly virus that took the lives of over 20,000 252 persons as per the information available on 12 April 21 March 2020, a number that grew in leaps and bounds daily! European countries like Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and even the United Kingdom bore the brunt of the deadly virus.