Pandemics and lockdown

On March 24, 1882, German microbiologist Dr Robert Koch announced the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria that causes the dangerous infection that affects your lungs. Kock failed to find a cure and tuberculosis still remains one of the biggest killers, affecting one out of every seven people in the United States and Europe.

The WHO has estimated that 1.8 billion people – close to one-quarter of the world’s population – can have a latent TB infection. In 2018, ten million people suffered from tuberculosis while 1.5 million perished. Tuberculosis is present since ancient times and continues to affect us.

Cholera, bubonic plague, smallpox, and influenza are some of the most brutal killers in human history. The outbreaks of these diseases transcend borders and are defined as a pandemic. Smallpox was the most painful disease which killed an estimated 300-500 million people in its nearly 12,000-year-old history until it was finally eradicated from the face of the Earth.

In history, we have witnessed all sorts of dangerous epidemics and diseases but no one was forced to observe a lockdown like that the one during the coronavirus crisis. There is now more awareness and understanding regarding safety precautions such as social distancing, wearing masks, and maintaining hygiene standards. This is helping people to protect themselves against the epidemic merely with stay-at-home orders.

The ongoing coronavirus crisis has created uncontrollable chaos and hysteria. Governments around the world were unable to handle a crisis of such magnitude and stumbled to gain control. This created panic in societies and since there is no cure or effective treatment for the disease, it created more stress among both young and old people. There is the fear of either contracting the disease or dying from it and this has taken a toll on our mental health.

In case a person contracts the coronavirus, there is no need to panic as it will increase stress. The patient should control his diet and be prepared, mentally and physically, to face the disease. Research by students at Harvard University has shown that coronavirus patients are at great risk of suffering from cardiovascular diseases. The pandemic is will lead to more patients with heart conditions along with other diseases which was already the biggest killer before COVID-19 took over the world.