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Coronavirus in the Global Village Dr. Sulekh C. Jain
Dr. Sulekh C. Jain is the Past Secretary and President of the Federation of Jain Associations in North America (JAINA). Dr. Jain also authored a book An Ahimsa Crisis: You Decide, which can be accessed as an eBook free of charge at www.isjs.in Email: scjain@earthlink.net (This article is an abridged version of a longer article on the same subject by Dr. Shugan Jain and Dr. Sulekh C. Jain, published in April-June 2020 issue of “ISJS – Transactions” journal.) During the last 200 years, due to the advances in technology, travel, internet and instant communication, the world had already become flat and truly a Global village. In a Global village people, care and share with each other and live happily. The recent Coronavirus has brought us even closer. The Covid-19 Pandemic does not see race, religion, color, caste, creed, language or geographical border before striking and everyone is affected equally. It spares no one. It is a great equalizer amongst rich and poor, weak or mighty and ordinary or VVIPs. PM of U.K, Prince Charles, Hollywood and Bollywood Stars (Tom Hanks, his wife, Amitabh Bachchan and his family), famous Sports players, TV newscasters ( to name just a few) and so many known and unknown people have been affected. It exacts a very heavy death toll too. This Coronavirus outbreak continues to sow tragedy on countless scale. Many lives have been lost, the economies world over have been turned upside down and life as we have known has been dramatically altered.
How has the world changed? In spite of the many untold and unimaginable tragedies and sufferings (which still continue), there are some silver lining; some temporary and many permanent. A new world and paradigm are emerging. Generally all news stories are about the hardships, sufferings and tragedies; but there a few upcoming positive changes too. Let me share just a few. •
In these times of stay-at–home orders and social distancing, politicians are using digital and social media for campaigning to get their message out to the voters. Right now, big rallies, shaking hands and holding – let alone kissing – babies around are out.
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Drug trafficking has fallen significantly amid virus disruption. Along the 2000 mile U.S Mexico border through which the majority of illegal drugs cross, the normally bustling vehicle traffic that smugglers use for cover has slowed down to a trickle. Bars, nightclubs and motels across the country that are the ordinarily fertile marketplace for drug dealers have shuttered. There are no takers for the drugs.
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There is a significant decrease in money laundering and on line drug sales. The godfathers of the cartels are panicked.
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Once illegal, telemedicine has taken off during this crisis. The shift is advantageous in many ways. Telemedicine in many cases offers a viable and sometimes cheaper alternative. It can also help control potential shortages of hospital resources by giving patients options beyond the hospital and the emergency room, while also providing more choices for residents of rural and sparsely populated areas where access to doctors can be problematic. The virus crisis is rapidly accelerating the transition to telemedicine.
