by Adish Sood
The first case of COVID-19 was reported in late December in 2019 in Wuhan, China. For me, it began somewhere in the middle of March of 2020 with more than half the planet shutting down. At first, it seemed it would pass just like any other flu, but that was the understatement of the century. The break from work and duty was relieving initially, but the worst was yet to come. The online studies and work was a whole new experience at the beginning, apps like zoom and google meet completely unfamiliar. The teaching and study pattern adopted was new but confusing, aimed at providing the same offline knowledge on an online platform. The student-teacher relationship suddenly became very casual and trivial. The once barred mobile phones in classrooms became our sole saviors. Then began the poor internet excuses and the “am I audible” memes.. The online tests were literally open book tests aided with browser searches.. The once coveted attendance suddenly lost all its importance. The very bewildered fear of professors became our very friends. There was nothing left much practical about the practical’s and left us feeling stranded and created a void in our clinical skills.
Not only students were affected, we saw our parents struggle too throughout the lockdown. Be it getting resources for the family to fixing leaking taps, it was a tough time. But we should feel privileged, that we could at least afford the essentials, but those who couldn’t, it was a nightmare.
It made an unexpected impact in our lives along with millions of others. It made us apart from our families, our social life went downhill, distorting hundreds of thousands of people’s mental health in particular. COVID-19 made us realize the importance of mental health and proper healthcare facilities.This was especially seen in those who tested positive and had to undergo quarantine and isolation.
The plight of patients was a devastating witness. People struggled with loss of life and livelihoods, families were destroyed and graveyards packed with cremations. A catastrophic plight that brought the world to its knees, making us feel helpless, stranded and destitute for basic healthcare necessities.
People need to understand the importance of wearing masks, maintaining social distance, sanitizing themselves and remember that COVID-19 is not gone yet. It can and will come back with more devastating consequences on human life. The scenario is still very much distressing and people need to hold on with this till we get through this pandemic. It has forced us to think about all that we took for granted once has become nothing more than just a long lost dream.