POST COVID -19 Restarting the socio-economic engine -Courtesy of Riza Yehia

POST COVID-19 : Restarting the socio-economic engine - Sunday Times, Sri Lanka 26 April 2020

FEATURES View(s): 109

The threat of COVID-19 pandemic (C19) has set the country on a war footing with the tri-forces, police and health and allied services deployed to fight this. A curfew is imposed to ensure social distancing of people to prevent the spread of C19 infections. This is a suddenly emergent pandemic threatening the whole of humanity. The collateral damages to the people by this are incalculable. It drains their hard-earned savings and exacerbates poverty. These will have a debilitating socio-economic impact on all sectors in the country.

Facing this challenge is daunting, since this is not like the Tsunami 2004. This is a global pandemic where every country is affected and no country is in a position to help the other. In most of the global crises, be they man-made or natural disasters, the international community sprang to action and provided global leadership. But this time, three months have passed since the emergence of C19 in Wuhan, China, the global leadership is yet to emerge and each country is left to fend for themselves.

Currently, we are in the midst of disaster management fighting C19. We should be confident of the progress hitherto made by the proactive steps taken by the government. Possibly strict adherence to social distancing would help eliminate the threat.

Assessing the current scenario, it is evident that passing this difficult time with lockdowns and supply-chain disruptions is easier, compared to what would ensue in the aftermath. Therefore, our attention should be focused on developing mitigation and remediation plans to manage the post pandemic period that follows. The post pandemic period could possibly be a new world order demanding total lifestyle changes, creating a ‘new normal’. This would expose us to new challenges, threats and opportunities requiring major changes in the way we live and do things.

The immediate aftermath of the relaxation of lock-downs and restoration of the supply-chains would not bring a near normal state, instead, it will most likely be chaotic. The immediate aftermath would increase the unemployment and poverty rate, influence reverse migration, disrupt education and public services, create a surge on health and mental health care, and spike divorce rates etc. These would be some of the imminent challenges that we should be prepared to face.

The government will have to take drastic measures to face this emerging challenge. It has to ensure an efficient bureaucracy and must initiate resource efficiency and adopt lean management principles by prioritising on critical sectors to function effectively. This would require a total overhaul of the system and adoption of systemic thinking in recalibrating the state apparatus to face new realities.

Post C19

Post C19 will be a new era that would demand new adaptive practices to face new realities. In the initial phase of it, social distancing would still be required until a vaccine is found or herd immunity achieved. Therefore, during this period, screening, tracing, wearing masks, maintaining personal hygiene and social distancing would be imperative in spite of the absence of an immediate pandemic. Hence, responding to this and resuscitating socio-economic life would require new techniques and technologies to help maintain social distancing whilst rebuilding life.

The focus on social distancing in the Post C19 would be disruptive to public transportation, shopping, education, health services and the industrial sector which require people movement and congregation to keep the system running. Therefore, to obviate disruptions, communication technologies, Internet transactions and new policies on health and safety   in workplaces need to be introduced.

Internet online transactions

The Internet online transactions are handy to help maintain some degree of social distancing across several sectors:

Online Shopping: Currently, this serves mostly the urban populations. That there is a need for capacity building to make this a livewire of e-commerce.

Online Education: During the lockdown, certain schools adopted online learning as an emergency measure. Sri Lanka is yet to develop a proper infrastructure for online education. The current Sri Lankan education system already suffers in respect of access and quality disparity between urban and rural schools. This urban/rural gap will get transformed to intra-urban and intra-rural gaps between resource rich and poor schools if online education is adopted in an ad hoc manner. Online education should be a national initiative that gives easy access to every child. This should not exacerbate the quality gap widening social disparity between children.

Telemedicine: Private sector health care institutions can start tele-medicine practice using the Internet. They can provide online consultations to their patients and where required this can be supplemented by mobile hospital services.

Online CAD/CAM, BIM and 3D Modelling: Online Design, Construction, Engineering, Printing and Packaging and 3D Model components can be produced maintaining social distancing.

E-Governance: The government must take immediate measures to strengthen e-governance initiatives to increase efficiency and reduce service cost. This would enhance efficient governance, increase transparency and eliminate corruptions.

Complementing the above, mobile technologies and the Internet can be used efficiently to reinforce the socio-economic framework without compromising the required social distancing. Effective use of the Internet and facilitating online transactions would help keep at least 25 per cent of the population off the road. This would as a result, reduce vehicular traffic and congestion in the streets and contribute immensely to reduce pollution and the carbon footprint. This will help social distancing and help save costs incurred in fuel for transport, time cost of travel and cost incurred on mitigating environmental pollution etc.

At a time of cost cutting and imperative frugality, it is suggested that the government increase the Internet speed and capacity and eliminate taxes on Internet services at least for one year to help spur economic growth and enable citizens and businesses embrace online transactions as the new norm. In support of this, the free WIFI system already provided in public spaces can be further expanded to serve a large catchment area benefiting the public.

Effective use of mobile technologies and Internet transactions would reduce people mobility and keep some off the streets. But to run the socio-economic engine to be productive, would require people to congregate in their workplaces and factories. Maintaining social distances in workplaces and factories would require new health and safety policies. Such policies should develop new regulations in respect of work space arrangements and sanitary facilities to prevent infections.

The twin approach of reducing people mobility by effective Internet use and increasing health and safety requirements in workplaces can help transition to the post C19 new normal state to kick-start our society again.

(The writer is an architect
and Sustainability Consultant
and contactable at:
rizayehiya@sustdesignstudio.com)



Share This Post

Riscoprire un senso di comunita mondiale con il popolo lombardo

La commissione per gli affari culturali di Tamils UK (CCAT)

                                                                          35 Modo Cristallo

  Email:victorcherubim@aol.com Dagenham RM8 1UE

  Tel::(044) 208 5900943 Regno Unito

Mobile:044) 7958522 888 31marzo 2020

.

    

Cara Dottoressa  Danielle  Macchini

Humanitas Gavazzeni

Bergamo,

Nord Italia

Caro Dr.Macchini,

Riscoprire un senso di comunità mondiale con il popolo lombardo

Notiamo con preoccupazione che la solitudine tra le persone vulnerabili  della Lombardia porta più paura del Coronavirus COVID-19, vi scriviamo per offrirvi  più che   simpatia,, ma un sentimento fraterno di solidarietà a tutti i cittadini italiani e soprattutto a coloro che sono oltre la ge of80 che secondo il vostro Istituto Nazionale di Sanità (NIH) lo stanno trovando più difficile  attualmente..

Una delle emozioni normali che pervade i nostri membri del CCAT è come possiamo aiutarvi in un momento comequesto, per mostrare la  nostra solidarietà con i vostri volontari che stanno lavorando sul campo in questo momento aiutando gli anziani a far fronte al loro stress emotivo.

Notiamo che sono a rischio anche le persone di oltre 80 anni che costituiscono il 56% del virus infetto che sono decedute fino ad ora e  con sempre più cure infermieristiche in prima linea per gli anziani e i più vulnerabili. .

Laprima cosa che vogliamo mandarvi è la nostra preghiera quotidiana per tutti i malati e i vulnerabili che si sentono isolati e senza conforto e solo. Desideriamo anche  relazionarci con una famiglia tra i più meritevoli che desideriamo sostenere con la nostra continua assistenza finanziaria e con contatto diretto tramite  regolare collegamento telefonico skype e  connessione  via e-mail con loro, per dare loro sostegno morale e qualsiasi assistenza necessaria in modo che non si sentano soli.

Si prega di metterci in contatto con questa famiglia al più presto convenienza. Tuttavia, se si considera qualsiasi altro modo abbiamo potuto meglio aiutare in questo momento critico, gentilmente non esitate a contattarci via e-mail o rete fissa o mobile.

La tua sinceramente,

Victo Cherubim

Victor Emmanuel Cherubim, F.I.C.S,

Segretario generale, La commissione per gli affari 

Not only flying anywhere in the future,but privacy of information will be at risk?

Every parent is more or less aware of the dangers of kids playing on the internet and exposed to social media. Everybody also knows about the threat of fake news. Do we need to accept, the world of technology and online interaction is fast changing?

Five apps among several others that parents should be aware of during lockdown have been highlighted. Researchers maintain that, Yik Yak, Kirk Messenger, Whisper, After School and What’s App and Zoom for video conferencing are in the news.
                                                    

Some if not most of these technological advances in communication modes have many users and varied usage. What’s App has more than a billion users. One in six of the world’s population is using this messaging service. It appears to be a “honey-money” trap for scammers. Fraudsters using WhatsApp often try to persuade users to hand over private details that can be used in identity theft, such as name, location, email address

among other, what was once considered secure information.

Apps make money easily. Some apps make criminals out of cowards. Others craftily hide as scams trying to install malicious software on devices, thus effectively collecting, gathering information that can and often is used for sinister purposes. They get going when the going gets tough and get developed as “the envelope of morality and safety”.

Another type of deception we experience when people cannot go shopping is during internet or “online” shopping. We are told that Amazon has started charging for services that generally come as part of the process of buying and should be free at point of delivery, perhaps taking advantage of the situation.

Do you know that once you use either “Amazon”, world’s online retailer  or “Go Daddy” an online Domain name service, your details of payment are stored as a Subscriber and you are liable to get a monthly service charge debit, as an online customer, or for some such frivolous excuse, without any service or product ordered?

What can you do?

During the lockdown, it is not only staying safe from the pandemic, but also knowing how to stay safe of financial wizards and scams. Fraudsters are sending out fake Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Asda shopping vouchers on WhatsApp. Messages look like they have been an actual contact, but the recipient name is fake, and it is designed to trick into clicking on the URL to claim the alleged free voucher. It is a semblance of truth. There are two or more tell tale signs the message or scam is fake; one is the spelling and the other is the grammar mistakes. In the excitement of having won a prize, people are conned to open the message. All what the scam mail is obtaining personal and private information by deception. Further, cookies become automatically installed on your device for fooling you again and again.

During the lockdown, we seem to already have social distancing, but no “control on corruption” and/or surveillance, by authorities on furlough. We see innovative ways of financial crime. Besides, social media scams, bank scams, loan scams, HMRC (Revenue & Customs) scams, the most innovative way of fooling the public is by Verizon’s Internet Provider, AOL, which appear flooded with unscrupulous email, undeliverable missed mail, which was never sent. To make it even unbearable the font size on all emails have been minimised to make it unreadable to the naked eye and the tick boxes to report junk email has conveniently, disappeared. It seems, being an accomplice with the scammers.

Action Fraud in the UK suggests the following:

1.    Never click on unsolicited links in messages that you receive even if they appear to come from a trusted contact.

2.    Follow up, with the excuse of “social distancing” your Internet Service Provider to redress the situation as early as you can.

Safety and security not only of Health but of Fraud

The privacy of life is at stake. The safety and security of individuals, children, and family while in lockdown is not only about staying safe against the Coronavirus. It has come to staying safe of all varieties and machinations of fraud and deception.

An added dimension has been brought into play. It is keeping children doing nothing at home, safe of the internet. It is dangerous, to say little of the perils of the internet, online.

It has become a playing field as children remain closeted, giving the net an almost immediate access to children.

A different and difficult ball game with technology

“WhatsApp” has hit the headlines as it faces a UK ban possibly, within weeks.

“Zoom” today has faced a fight to hang on to calm “App privacy “fears. Zoom we are informed has diched the video conferencing App amid security fears, as some of the world’s largest firms have banned or rather have warned staff not to use the App. It follows a spate of “Zoombombs” where hackers have gate crashed meetings and concerns over data privacy. Zoom had up from 10 million to 300 million daily users.

I am constrained to admit to my readers that as I write these words, the computer is self correcting anything that it does not want me to reveal to my readers in my piece. This is what Coronavirus has done. Hackers now rule or is it “Big Brother”?

“The recommendation to consume quantities of disinfectants and take in ultraviolet rays to fight the spread of the virus?” Has this theory been floated as a deception?

I need hardly remind my reading public in Sri Lanka and add: Let’s remember “vadhaka sudiya”.

Victor Cherubim

Courtesy of Vishnu Vasu - Village Monk

Video -2020-04-01-17-59-21(1)

Courtesy of Ceylon Today

https.//ceylontoday.lk/print-move/55808

"Sri Lanka Placed Between Strategic Threat and Opportunity".

Our world is here and now, our perspective is changing

When times are turned on its head,we look for ways to cope with the situation we are faced with.What we think of as valuable is the first casualty of this change. We also get a sense of satisfaction from knowing that we may not be able to change what is here and now ,but we will still be able to have some control over something,if we adjust our perspective? 

How then do we have a say in our lives? A good example of this situation is how innovative people who came in search of refugee, from say, Alleppo,in Syria or Khandakar in Afghanistan,over in dinghies in the Mediterranean to Europe and later across the Channel to the United Kingdom, have sought jobs as hospital staff attendants,cleaners, nurses, and even doctors in hospitals treating the pandemic. They were the downtrodden,the persecuted who are now able to take control over their lives and are offering their services in large numbers for recruitment in field hospitals around UK. They are the silent case workers who hardly anyone has spoken about.

It is perhaps,a surprising benefit to offer their services and now have a say in their lives, after years of their post traumatic stress they had to endure as refugees, in a distant land. This sense of community,they would never have contemplated or anticipated,They have the quality of empathy so desired to help the victims of this pandemic.

Another group of "hidden workers" are the robots.

The idea of robots taking the place of humans in the field hospitals in Wuhan,China, is also

coming to light now. The pandemic has fast forwarded research immeasurably. What was AI a few months to a year ago is now a reality.

Human robots we are told have taken the jobs previously done and freed hospital medical staff. It has helped limit the possibility of virus spread, We are informed that a Beijing based robotic company, Cloud Minds developed and sent 14 robots to Wuhan,China's field hospital within weeks, with patient care,Some of these robots were programmed to do ordinary jobs to clean and disinfect, deliver medicines to patients, measure temperature. Of course, the robot cost ranged between US$ 17,000 and US$72,000 each. We hear a special AI robot  named "Ginger" helped with hospital admissions,education services as part of its administrative responsibilities, as well as deliver food and medication without person to person contact.It also was an added attraction as it entertained quarantined patients, lifting up their spirits.

Another AI research called HARIX (Human Augmented Robot Intelligence) has been in use in the US to monitor patient vital signs,including temperature,heart rate,blood oxygen levels,allowing doctors and nurses outside the ward to monitor all patient vital information remotely as well as their own vitals to catch any potentially early symptoms of infection. 

The pandemic, a catalyst for further medical research

Weeks ago virologists and even Bill Gates had maintained that it will take more than a year before a COVID-19 vaccine can be developed,tested and deployed.

The pace of change is unbelievable that today (19 April 2020) Professor of Virology at Oxford University, Dr.Sarah Gilbert during a TV interview stated that her laboratory had identified a COVID19 vaccine She also stated that within a week a platform for a vaccine will be tried and tested so that soon it would become available worldwide.It is a well known fact that Jenner Institute,Oxford University has been making and testing vaccines designed to induce T Cell responses. 
                                                     

 Besides, the race is on with GKN (Glaxo SmithKline) and  some 21 other companies are working on a Phase 1 Clinical Study. There is no doubt that where there is money, there is research.

What a difference a strain of virus can make?

Do we need a virus to give us an alarm call? It is not only a pandemic, but it is an economic restructure warning of how we manage our lives and our finances?

Countries like Sri Lanka are at the mercy of Monitoring Agencies like Moody's to downgrade our ratings. We were far too over committed in our spending habits and in our borrowings that we ourselves "created" our economic strain of this pandemic?

Because a significant part of our economy is export oriented and by employment funds repatriated,our response immediately is to mitigate this damage.Because in our case the disruption to supply and demand cannot stabilise the economy, we need a far sighted approach. Our response should be large enough to reduce the effect of this pandemic.

This does mean that a fiscal and monetary correction is demanded as in other parts of the developed world.

The first place to start thinking is to invest what little reserves we have left on a public health system to improve the hygiene practices and the eating habits of our people.
                                

As a layman, the first thing that comes to my mind is that Canned Fish imports which cost us Rs.192 a tin,should be banned.Why carry coals to Newcastle.Our coasts are resplendent in natural fish,which is a natural source of Vitamin D, a necessity for a healthy lifestyle to combat any virus?

Another possible reduction can be to restrict unnecessary overseas travel at least for one year. This could replenish our external reserves.

A third possibility,if it has not already been allocated,is to invite Sri Lankans abroad by a Five Year special interest rate inducement, to invest in Sri Lanka.

But who am I to make a value judgment?

Victor Cherubim

Who are our "rathraang"or our "thangam" today in Sri Lanka?

We consider "rathraang" (gold) as our measure of value. We have been imbued over time and tradition to think we would lack esteem, if we do not embellish or adorn ourselves,our body with this precious metal,as our symbol of wealth.

As the Nursery Rhyme goes:

"Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross

 To see a fine lady on a white horse

 Rings on her fingers, bells on her toes

 She shall have music wherever she goes". 

If perhaps, this rhyme was written in Sri Lanka,instead of in Australia,it would chime as:  "Gold on her fingers, gold on her toes".

We have a fascination for gold and why not? 

When we often attribute the nature of a person as "ratharang",as golden, we really assign a  hallmark of quality, a distinction reserved only to those select few who are willing and wanting to sacrifice their own lives for the service of others,caught between life and death.

At a time of crisis during this Coronavirus pandemic,the greatest accolade we can bestow on front line health professionals such as Nurses,Doctors,Ambulance Drivers,working inside and alongside Intensive Care Units, Infectious Disease Hospitals,and the like, is the selfless service that these carers have offered for their less well,unable to breathe and sometimes dying patients.

A day in the life of a Carer for the terminally ill in UK 

I am hardly able to put myself inside a Coronavirus ward in a Hospital in the UK, so the best I can communicate is to quote a piece from The UK Telegraph of 20 March 2020. It speaks louder than words:

"7.15am

On my nine-mile drive to work at Cardiff. It’s already an odd morning. I packed my car with a sleeping bag, roll-mat, food, toothpaste and clothes, because I’m not sure when I’m going to be coming home again. The COVID-19 outbreak has changed everything.

My wife Alison is very upset. Last night, I sent her an email entitled: ‘things you should know in case I die.’ I left my passwords and the location of important documents, but I also wrote the following; ‘I have had a bloody wonderful life, travelled, partied, had two amazing children, spent time with friends, family, and done things I never dreamed of. I love my job even though it can be hard and dangerous. Touching the lives of others is the best feeling in the world.’

I’m not scared - the word I would use is ‘uncertain’. There are so many unknown unknowns with this virus. Full-to-the-brim of the news, I switch off Radio 4, and put on Mellow Magic FM.

8.30am

The start of my standard 13-hour shift. The first challenge is where to go, physically. For the last week there have been changes in the localities of the beds in ICU, and a special, large ward has opened for those suffering from COVID-19, or about to be tested.

At Cardiff, we are on fire making plans. As far as infections go, we are about a week behind London, but we are the biggest ICU in Wales, so expect a big rise in patients. As we do everyday, the staff have a meeting to talk about all the patients on the ward, but all people want to talk about is COVID. I have a coffee, put on my protective clothing, and get to work.

10am

We have one patient being treated in ICU for Coronavirus. I go and check him to make sure his ventilator is helping him as best it can. It’s also important to check he is lying on his front for ‘Prone Ventilation’. Evidence suggests that this position is the best for helping the lungs extract oxygen. Sixteen hours out of 24 on the front, but no more - or the patient will get pressure sores.

When I leave his room, I remove my sweaty, uncomfortable protective clothing - gown, gloves, and a specific mask which filters viruses. If I do things in the wrong order, or touch my face with my hands, the greatest mask in the world will not save me. I take my mask off at the back, throw in in the bin with one smooth motion, and wash my hands. We developed this method during the Ebola scare, and use in now during seasonal flu outbreaks. It takes practice, and staff need training.

11.30am 

I speak to the patient’s family on the phone: it isn’t safe for them to come to the hospital. Communication is the hardest and most important thing in my job. It’s difficult enough talking to the relatives of a critically ill person, even when you are able to look in their eyes. The only way to handle this is to be honest. “Your relative is sick enough to die,” I say. “But our passion in life is getting your loved one better, and back to you.” I like to call it ‘honest hope.’

12pm

The ICU community is small and close - not just doctors, but nurses and therapists, too. I receive an email from a colleague in Italy. Right now, the international community talk to each other all the time via WhatsApp and email. Doctors from China and Italy share advice on equipment, such as the fact you can use one ventilator for multiple patients. They also help on the human level, with counsel that this is a marathon, not a sprint, and tips on how to speak to families.My Canadian friend shows me a photo of where hand-sanitiser has been ripped off the wall at his hospital. This hasn’t happened here yet, but who knows what the future holds? 

1pm 

My lunch: a cookie.

2pm to 5pm

I look after the other residents on my ward. In Cardiff ICU, we see over 1,500 patients a year. Their illnesses are not optional. They can range from people with bleeds on the brain, cardiac arrests, infections, or sepsis. My vital work with these patients goes on. With a suspected sepsis sufferer, for example, I organise scans, put plastic tubes into veins or arteries, set up machines to help deal with kidney failure. Plus I have to communicate with their family and the wider health-care team.

6pm

People are asking ever more- anxious questions, from relatives to colleagues and followers on social media. While this is energising scientifically, it can get emotionally tiring. I have a strange, self-selecting group of patients. My colleagues and I normally only see the tiny percentage who are critically ill - and this goes for COVID sufferers, too.

9.30pm

Exhausted, I leave for home. I stop at McDonalds for a McFlurry - this is my dinner.  I’m lucky in that I haven’t seen shortages or scrapping at the supermarkets. You would have thought that greed and bullshit would have disappeared during a global health crisis. As an NHS worker, I stand to benefit from an hour in the morning’s dedicated shopping at Marks and Spencer. I’m more worried about petrol running out.

10pm

It can be tricky coming home after a day treating the sickest of people, and I have been incredibly busy since the start of the COVID outbreak. My wife, a teacher, calls me ‘a body with a phone attached.’ Most nights, I try to do bath and bed for my children, but my mind is elsewhere. 

Tonight, I am going to sleep in the spare room because I’ve been surrounded by viruses all day.

11pm

A thought to finish on: Intensive Care started as a speciality in 1952 in response to a polio epidemic in Copenhagen. Sixty-eight years on, that knowledge will help us get through this. To those who are worried, I would say the following: listen to the science. It doesn’t have all the answers, but it’s the best thing we have. In ICU we are here, standing strong, to help."

As told to Miranda Levy

To sum up - How do our Nurses and Doctors in Sri Lanka differ?

Our frontline Health Professionals in Sri Lanka, of what I have read up to now,are in my opinion "ratharang". Let us commend them for the selfless service they give daily, weekly for the most vulnerable of people,who are on their last legs. 

There seems to be an intellectual hunger among the top Professional Medics to do everything at all possible to contain this virus at present and keep the death rate low. 

Bringing people back to life is a quality of purpose that is more than commendable. What the recovered will relate is doubly more than I can ever contemplate.

Victor Cherubim

Things you can do to contain the spread of Coronavirus

Things you can do to contain the spread of Coronavirus

Background

A series of continuing trends have led to increasing frequency of infectious disease outbreaks within the past twenty years. Among them are the smoking habit,unhealthy fast food,obesity,high level of global travel, trade and connectivity and high density living.But it is the links to climate change and biodiversity that are most striking.

Climate change has altered and accelerated the transmission patterns of infectious diseases such as malaria, dengue, and Zika,While biodiversity and the continued movement of large groups of people to new locations in search of work,travel and holidays,often under poor conditions, increases the increases the vulnerability to biological threats such as diarrhoea diseases and acute respiratory infections such as  SARS,MERS and now COVID-19 Coronavirus.

During this time there has also been medical breakthroughs and advances in public health systems.Up to now these have contained the effects of these infections through the success of countermeasures such as vaccines,antivirals and antibiotics, which have greatly reduced the risk of massive loss of life.

Two areas of research technologies we are told are gene-coded antibodies for specific pathogens like SARS and MERS,or monoclonal antibodies,typically used to treat existing disease,  

Research progress has been made in a vaccine,after the 2014/16 Ebola epidemic.But the  scale of COVID -19 outbreak of Coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan in December 2019 has taken health care systems unprepared to properly respond.
                                                       

What we are seeing is unpreparedness

As the full impact of COVID-19 is now beginning to become apparent from various angles,from a health,community, business and economic perspective, a continuing fear is settling in. 

The health and safety,not just of our nearest and dearest,but the wider community, has become an absolute priority.

1. Tele-health visits have suddenly boomed overnight,as doctors and patients embrace 

    "social distancing" amid this crisis.

2. Pharmacies are struggling to keep key medication stocked as demand surges amid this 

    panic.

3. Eating is once again framed as a moral act.Bulk buying has been a quirk among some,   

    with heavy focus of hysterical greed in shops,with long queues outside supermarkets.

4. With the lockdown in many parts of the world and curfews in others, people have no 

    idea what's coming up next. They can't eat out,so they are stocking their larders,that

    is, if supermarket shelves are not raided, or if rationing is not introduced. 

5. With "just in time" delivery systems in place,supermarkets carry minimal stocks, buying

    only what it needs at a given time,to save on the cost of storage. It is a cost effective

    and efficient,highly profitable model,as long as imports are freely flowing. A weakness

    in the supply chain is that it is so unfairly and unequally distributed across the      

    population.  

6. Loneliness and housebound brings more fear than the virus for the vulnerable and for 

    young children. As well as being fearful of catching the virus,another prospect that            haunts many,is that feel the solitude, a huge effect on mental and physical health. We

    can expect a higher number of deaths among the elderly not directly linked to 

    Coronavirus. 

A long battle ahead

One of the emotions that prevails at the moment is confusion. When will life return to normal? 

UK Prime Minister,Boris Johnson has said he believes a possible exit strategy to the pandemic "can turn the tide" within 12 weeks. While President Donald Trump has suggested "US can open up again fairly soon". However,health experts are much more cautious. 

Lifting restrictions to alleviate the economic and social damage of a prolonged period of lockdown could risk a second wave.

How to stay financially sound is on everyone's mind. We all know this is not Wuhan, This is not disappearing in the next three weeks,no matter how we wish it.It is estimated it could take up to 18 months at least to find a vaccine and test it for COVID-19, according to researchers at Imperial College,London. 

What are some ways we can take care of ourselves in the meantme? 

1. Those who are highly immune suppressed who are on certain medication should 

    consider other options, such as buying online, or having someone else shop for them,

    or get the Chemist/Pharmacy to deliver it to their homes.

2. People before leaving home to do shopping should have a solid plan of action of what 

    they are going to buy and prioritise what they need. People, if at all possible, should 

    try to think in terms of buying at least two weeks worth, so they can minimise the

    number of trips for shopping.

3. Social distancing is fine,perhaps, simply diverting attention or turning one's head is 

    one way of avoiding direct contact.They should also think about what they touch in the

    store.One of the riskiest moments during a shopping "excursion" is paying at the 

    cashiers till not with cash, but with a Debit Card,thereby reducing the risk of handling 

    contaminated notes and lose coins,if at all possible.

4. One of the things not mentioned up to now is after arriving home,take off your shoes,

    slippers.Droplets containing the virus fall on the ground ,where they can picked up by 

    feet. Extensive washing of both feet as well as hands is recommended.

5. Keep abreast of what is happening around you as well as around the world. Much can 

    be learned from Scientists studying how viruses are transmitted. 

6. Saving live and protecting the economy is the job for the nation.

Victor Cherubim 

The Blame Game

The Blame Game

Man and Nature have survived for eons in close proximity with each other. It is only when we  humans fight to displace nature,when we think we we have control over nature,doing things to upset this equilibrium, that nature shows us who is in command.

As Lord Buddha commissioned, "be kind to all living beings". Besides, the significance of Nature in my understanding of the little I know of Buddhism, is the belief that even animals have the "Buddha Nature". This according to what my Ayah from Gampaha taught me when I was a kid, was to avoid harming nature as much as possible

This closeness with Nature was disrupted in the case of the Coronavirus pandemic. As seen we are now finding ways to blame ourselves for unpreparedness, for consuming wild animal flesh,for changing our environment to accommodate our population escalation,for man's inhumanity to fellow man, and particularly our "fat cats" not taking concerted world action in time.

To avoid arguments and conflict we now have a damage limitation exercise on our hands.

We need to release our anger and frustration. This we can do through exercise, individual sport routine within our homes, proper attention to health and hygiene in our environment.But most of all to use patience and care of the elderly, our pets and our surroundings and protect them.

Feelings of pressure and burdens and at times it is natural our isolation could lead to discouragement. We are living in un-natural times.

If we begin to feel angry or frustrated at what we cannot do, we can channel our rage into hard physical work at home, or in our gardens,what we had little or no time to devote due to our busy schedule, or we can devote more attention to a creative project.We can use this determined energy in a constructive way.

The unpredictable nature of Nature challenging us at times like this, means we will likely feel on edge at times, lonely and in despair. We may feel weighed down by duties and responsibilities.

We will have to react quickly to changing circumstances. The key to dealing with this disruption is open mindedness and a willingness to adapt.

Innovative use of machines and man

Did you know that US Companies with branch outlets in China were working flat out during the Coronavirus break at manufacturing ICU designed equipment for machine control without human control, to monitor Coronavirus patients.

We note during the latter stages of the pandemic in January 2020, human interface at Wuhan Intensive Care unit equipment was replaced by machines. This included patient monitoring,life support and emergency resuscitation and diagnostic devices without nursing staff or doctors,using electrodes and sensors and a remote console outside.

We now hear NHS UK mourning that available ICU unit beds in hospitals around the country are understaffed, lacking the very minimum recommended human intervention staff with one Consultant and one ICU Nurse, to monitor acute care patient monitoring, Life and Emergency resuscitative equipment.

These may include the electrical activity of the heart via an EKG,respiration rate (breathing),blood pressure,body temperature, cardiac output and the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood. Added to this is the Life Support Ventilator, Infusion Pump,plus diagnostic equipment,mobile X-Ray unit,portable clinical laboratory devices including urinary catheters, were all serviced by nurses and doctors.

Wuhan Hospital was able to use machines and a Central Monitor manned outside the ICU unit bed ward, to technically do the work of man, by remote control. This was innovation at its best.

                                           

What may be seen in the future after the blame game?   

There is the slightest doubt in my mind that machines will replace man in many endeavours,in health,in the workplace, at the least. When will it be over is the question on everybody's mind?

That there will be stringent controls on health,travel within and around countries, and more so around the world. For a time, people will be able to smell the roses in their own back gardens and be able at last, to enjoy the beauty of nature?

That the health and safety not just our nearest and dearest, but the wider community of humans and animals,including severe restrictions,penalties imposed on anyone plundering  Nature, will be an absolute priority on Governments.

At the same time the antidote to fear is leadership. Fat cats in business will be forced to make way for innovative CEO's and machines replace man in offices.Work from home will become normal.

We will see social gatherings, church services, marriages, funerals, sports activities taking a very different role, with direct interaction rather than through intermediaries.

We will see strong leadership around not only among nations,but in world organisations like the WHO, IMF, and UN.

Direct relationship and accountability between Man, Nature and God will make Man more as Custodian,rather than Controller.

Could this be The New Age of Aquarius? 

Victor Cherubim