The Masked Heroes

I recently read a post by a doctor which said the best help from all us non-essential workers would be to stay home and follow precautions as best as we can, and try our best to stay healthy for as long as we can. Our goal is to not overwhelm the healthcare infrastructure, and inundate the frontline heroes, who are already working on a war-footing. The idea is to flatten the curve, by self-isolation, quarantine and social distancing. We all have read or heard this message hundreds, if not thousands, of time in the past several weeks. I am writing about it again. 

I am a proud Indori (for those who don’t know, Indori refers to a person of Indore origin; Indore is a city in central India). When I see the work done progressively by Indorians to retain the title of “The Cleanest City in India”, not once, but four years in a row, it makes me proud! Today it was disappointing to see Indore in the news again - a footage of some miscreants, or maybe some misled people, pelting stones at healthcare workers. Nothing against Indore - there are all sorts of people in the world. What was disheartening was the reminder that people are not realizing the seriousness of the spread of this virus. And the very angels who are putting their own lives in harm's way to save others, were being targeted!

To get a sense of what healthcare providers put themselves against, consider a covid test. To many of us a covid test is a data point. For a healthcare worker it means to reach the nasal swab all the way down to the patient’s throat or ear, which may cause the patient to splutter all over them. The test means taking a blood sample from the patient, which puts them at risk to exposure. Even if they have all the safety equipment, consider the steps to put it all on and stay in it while taking care of patients. This was an example of testing. Now consider when they actually care for a known sick patient. While the healthcare providers do all this as their daily job, their request to us is to stay put, and try to stop or slow down the spread of this virus.

There are misled people everywhere. It angers me to learn about people disregarding the social distancing directive; arrogant people who are confident that they have a strong immune system and don’t care who they spread the virus to if they are asymptomatic; or ignorant people, who despite all the warnings, continue to take it lightly. One can understand about people without homes or people who are themselves struggling, even to get food. What bothers me are educated, well off people, who need to show a little patience and heed to the directive.

The last time I was down with fever and cold, I stayed in bed for a day or two, kept myself hydrated, took a fever reducer like Tylenol, washed my hands, covered my face, stayed out of the way of other family members, opened the windows for 15-20 mins, two or three times a day. My friends and family said “yeah, something is going around, if you don’t have flu symptoms, it is probably a viral infection”. Though still weak, luckily I recovered in three days. I didn’t need to call my primary care. During the current covid outbreak, I pray for my safety and others around me, though I add that that if I do catch this virus, it would be the same like before and I don’t have to bother an overworked, overwhelmed healthcare provider. That’s the least I could do for these Masked Heroes!