Narvijay Yadav
(narvijayindia@gmail.com)
Almost after seven months, for the first time yesterday, I put my feet out on the road to buy some vegetables as the market is nearby. It felt strange to walk. You might be thinking what's so special about walking when everyone else is doing it. No, my case is different. During the second wave of Covid-19, in the month of May, when the Delta version of Corona was at its peak, my life was hanging in danger. I had to stay in the ICU for two weeks and in the hospital for one and a half months. Normal life has not started yet, that's how dangerous the Delta version was. Now it is heard that Singapore has banned the entry of travellers from 7 African countries. A new version of Corona has been found in Africa, which is said to be more lethal than Delta. Countries whose travellers have been banned include Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
The new variant of Covid-19 has been named B.1.1.529. Scientists from all over the world are busy checking all the aspects of the new variant. It is yet to be ascertained how deadly it is in comparison to Delta. The National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) has warned the government of the risks involved. All the states and union territories have been alerted by the healthcare department to thoroughly screen and test travellers coming from South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong. The number of cases reported in Hong Kong (1), Botswana (3) and South Africa (6). The case found in Hong Kong is also of a traveller who had come from South Africa. The concern of the Ministry of Health is also justified because the rules for foreigners coming to India were relaxed recently. However, concrete information about the new variant will be revealed only after investigation. But, there is a lesson to be learned from this that basic precautions like wearing the mask, maintaining social distance and washing hands need to be taken seriously. I found that apart from me, only a few people were wearing masks in the market yesterday, everyone else was moving around carelessly. This negligence is not good. So be careful and wear a mask.
Meanwhile, the number of air travellers in the country is continuously increasing. The number has become almost equal to the pre-Covid era. This has been possible because of the success of the vaccination drive. By January, the number of air passengers will be as high as November 2019. The number of domestic flights has also increased by three times to 2712 in the last six months.