Corona virus has made life to stand still. Although unlock phase has started in many parts of the country and the world with relaxation in restrictions. This virus has changed the way of living and it is unlikely to get back to normal life soon. As per the recent report published by Mckinsey, it is very unlikely to end before end of 2021, with herd immunity, perhaps being the solution. One can download the said report below:
Looking at the serious impact on normal life due to COVID, it had changed a lot. Work from home has become a normal way to continue your job. Companies are coming up with new and innovative ways to increase the efficiency and productivity while concerning the employee safety as well. Needless to mention, the total no of cases had crossed 33 million worldwide and total no of deaths had crossed 1 million. United States, India and Brazil tops the list in terms of no cases whereas United States, Brazil and India tops the list in terms of no deaths. The total no of deaths in India is inching towards 100,000.
One study reveals that India can reduce no of deaths to much extent if people wears face mask and take other precautions. This study is conducted by United States-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. Let’s look at the estimated no of deaths in India by December 1, 2020 in three scenarios: Worst case, Most Likely and Best Case.
Worst Case Scenario
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- Lockdown restrictions continue to ease up and mask usage remains at current levels.
- No of deaths in India by December 1, 2020: 4,92,380
Most Likely Scenario
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- Mask usage remains at current levels; six-week, state-level lockdowns are re-imposed if daily death rate exceeds 8 per million population in that state
- No of deaths in India by December 1, 2020: 4,45,265
Best Case Scenario
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- Face mask usage rapidly increases to 95% starting now; six-week, state-level lockdowns are re-imposed if daily death rate exceeds 8 per million population in that state.
- No of deaths in India by December 1, 2020: 2,91,145
Looking at the estimated deaths figures as pointed out by the study, it is important to think on the precautions that people are taking currently. There are many who are taking the things lightly or better to say, “they have taken it for granted”. One can easily find people without masks and assembling them on the streets, increasing the risk of spread. As per the IHME study, even in best case, approx. 3 lakhs people may die due to COVID by 1st December 2020 and 5 lakhs deaths in worst case scenario. This is an estimation and the correctness of this cannot be judged at this moment. But, given the present condition, the numbers are quite alarming and startling.
Needless to say, the total no of tests conducted in India so far is around 7.31 crores (1 Crore = 10 million) and tests per million is around 53,000. The total population of India stands around 138 crores, meaning less than 10% of the country’s population have been tested so far. It is obvious that we may see increase in number of new cases. Apart from all the negatives, it is also important to mention that people recovered from Corona so far in India is more than 5 million. But this doesn’t mean that Indians should stop taking enough precautions.
Many famous personalities including Amitabh Bachchan, Amit Shah, Manish Sisodiya, Shiv Raj Singh Chauhan etc tested positive for Corona virus but luckily recovered and few lost their lives. No doubt, India has a good recovery rate compared with other countries, but some of the famous personalities lost their lives. Let’s have a quick look on some of the famous Indian personalities who lost their lives from Corona Virus.
Pranab Mukherjee: Pranab Mukherjee, the former President (2012-17) lost the long battle from Corona and breath his last on 31st August 2020. He was a legendary and stalwart politician from Congress party. He was and is praised by his opponents for his humble and polite behaviour and loved by every Indians. He was popularly called “Pranab Da” and was conferred with Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of India. Apart from being a politician, he was a writer as well and has written many books which includes Beyond Survival: Emerging Dimensions of Indian Economy, Challenges Before the Nation: Saga of Struggle and Sacrifice, Thoughts and Reflections etc.
Suresh Angadi: He was a member of Lok Sabha since 2004 from Belagavi constituency and had never lost an election. He was serving as a Minister of State for Railways in the present Narendra Modi government. He was a popular face from Karnataka. He died on 23rd September 2020 due to COVID.
S. P Balasubrahmanyam: Noted playback singer S.P. Balasubrahmanyam lost the battle from COVID at the age of 74 and breath his last on 25th September 2020. He sung many songs in many languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, to name a few. He was a well known singer and a household name in India for his famous songs.
Chetan Chauhan: Cricketer turned politician; Chetan Chauhan was serving as a minister in Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath’s government. He was a famous international cricketer during 1969-81. He was elected to Lok Sabha twice in 1991 and 1998 respectively and UP Vidhan Sabha in 2017. Chetan Chauhan was the first Test cricketer to finish his Test career with over 2000 runs but without a century. He was tested positive for COVID on 12th July 2020 and breath his last on 16th August 2020. He was 73.
Raghuvansh Prasad Singh: Popularly known as “Raghuvansh Babu”, he was a well known politician from Bihar and also served as a Union Minister under Manmohan Singh government. He was long associated with RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal). He lost his life due to COVID on 13th September 2020.
Rahat Indori: Noted Lyricist and poet Rahat Indori died due to COVID on 11th August 2020. He was a well-known Shayar, ghazal writer and wrote many songs in Hindi movies as well. Some of the notable movies include Munnabhai MBBS, Hamesha, Kareeb, Mission Kashmir etc.
Hari Vasudevan: Hari Vasudevan was a famous historian and writer who died on 10th May 2020 due to COVID, at the age of 68. He was a noted historian for his work on history of Russia and Europe and India-Russia relations. He completed his PhD studies from University of Cambridge.
As more than 1 million worldwide deaths and approx 0.1 million deaths in India, one should take enough safety and precautions. Let’s stay safe, take enough precaution to combat spread of Corona as “Life is precious”…
– Ashish Kumar
Ashish Vision 