The first death in India from coronavirus (COVID-19) was reported today. A 76-year-old man, who died last Tuesday, was confirmed today as a coronavirus carrier. While my colleagues are roaming in the office wearing masks and I am washing my hands after every one hour, the panic is taking a toll.
Delhi has already declared a closure for schools, colleges, cafes and cinema halls for upcoming fourteen days. People are now not allowed to travel internationally. According to worldometer.info, 4,990 people died worldwide because of novel coronavirus and the death toll might increase with every passing day.
What are you doing right now?
Due to the graceful media and WhatsApp university, people are scared and panicking. The party animals are avoiding going to pubs and restaurants, professionals are cancelling international and domestic meetings, common men and women are avoiding social gatherings and pleasure travel.
Such concern gestures are being appreciated as well. And guess what? These activities are now slashing lethal pollution including greenhouse gases which is responsible for global warming.
Novel coronavirus: A blessing?
Francois Gemenne, the director of The Hugo Observatory has said that the lockdown of factories and places of public gatherings can save more lives by reducing pollution. Therefore, we can mindfully assume that corona has come as a blessing and playing an important part to save the earth from pollution.
While talking about the deaths caused by atmospheric pollution, Gemenne said, “Strangely enough, I think the death toll of the coronavirus at the end of the day might be positive, if you consider the deaths from atmospheric pollution.”
It is important to note that 48,000 people annually die in France because of atmospheric pollution and the number is more than a million in China. According to WHO (World Health Organisation), the global death toll is 7 million due to atmospheric pollution.
China controlled coronavirus and pollution!
Yes! You read it right! China’s efforts to control the coronavirus made people stay at home and they shut down the factories. These actions caused a drastic reduction in air pollution in China. Cleaner air can improve public health and maybe even save lives!
Also Read: Pornhub Creates 112 Coronavirus Porn Videos To Raise Awareness About The Disease
This is not all, the number of deaths caused by cancer, road accidents and mental health issues are greater than the number of deaths caused by novel coronavirus. 8 million people die each year due to mental illness and nearly 1.25 million people die in road accidents every year.
But, it is only coronavirus people are bothered about. I mean, it is good to be aware and take care of the basic sanitization but overdoing these things are not healthy at all.
This is not all, people in India these days are not fighting over politics and religion on social media (They are now into basic sanitization). Fake news pertaining to politics is not going viral anymore. While my Facebook wall is filled with stories of corona mania, Indian totkas to prevent coronavirus is going viral on WhatsApp. People have finally started to pray for each other again. I wonder, if corona would not have been there, we might have still stuck to the stories of Delhi unrest.
Gemenne asked a very interesting question to the people. He asked, “Why are we so much more afraid of the coronavirus than we are of climate change or atmospheric pollution or other kinds of threats? What is so special about the coronavirus that we are ready to put the whole world on lockdown because of that?”
I second his question!
Image source: Google images
Content source: Worldometer, Aljazeera, Forbes, The Guardian
Find the blogger: @UrmiKhasnobish
