GLOBAL PANDEMICS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD: WHAT SETS APART THE COVID-19 EXPERIENCE?

International Journal of Mechanical and Production Engineering Research and Development (IJMPERD) ISSN(P): 2249-6890; ISSN(E): 2249-8001 Vol. 10, Issue 3, Jun 2020, 1471-1484 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.

GLOBAL PANDEMICS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD: WHAT SETS APART THE COVID-19 EXPERIENCE? ABHIJEET NANDY Research Assistant (Social Science), Centre for Regulatory Studies Governance and Public Policy, The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata, India ABSTRACT Mankind has experienced, devastated and successfully recovered from various pandemics over the past two thousand years and may be even before that. The socio economic effects or the death rate for that matter have varied from one pandemic to other but all of them sure were quite catastrophic and has left a mark in the canons of history. Now standing in 21st century, human civilization is again facing a threat to its survival in the form of a new pandemic called Coronavirus disease or Covid-19. Originated in China, this virus has now spread across many nations throughout the world and affected the lives of billions of people. The present paper is an attempt to look back at some of the most notable pandemics and its effects that humanity has faced in the past and compare them with the present situation of the world which is currently tottering under the influence of the deadly Coronavirus.

Received: May 21, 2020; Accepted: Jun 11, 2020; Published: Jun 29, 2020; Paper Id.: IJMPERDJUN2020131

INTRODUCTION The legendary Greek philosopher Aristotle has said that “Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is

Original Article

KEYWORDS: COVID 19, Isolation, History, Lockdown & Pandemic

unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human.” Human beings cannot live in isolation. It has the basic instinct to develop certain forms of relationships with other human beings. There is always a mutual dependence among each other. This mutual dependence is something that helps in the development of society and society helps in creating a state. But this socialising tendencies of human beings sometimes gets thwarted when certain pandemics encircles the entire world and sometimes brings the human civilizations almost at the brink of extinction. Over the years the world has faced many pandemics like the Justinian plague, Black Death, Spanish flue and even HIV. Now, in 21st century, humanity is again facing a crisis due to a highly contagious disease, which is spreading like wildfire, known as Coronavirus (Covid-19). Since no vaccination or proper medicines are available as of yet, the government of most of the countries around the world is adopting the method of complete lockdown. During this lockdown the people are required to stay inside the house as much as possible and not to get out of their houses unless it is very urgent. All the workplaces, educational institutions, places of entertainment or worships remains closed for an indefinite number of days.

This lockdown has severe socio-economic impact all around the world. Large number of people has lost their jobs, trade and commerce has been disrupted and the economies of most countries are facing a great slump. On the other side, although initially the people were adjusting themselves to this lockdown but after a certain time frustration, anxieties, anger begins to arouse due to multiple factors including boredom, fear of losing jobs, not getting enough food and even intoxicants for those who are addicted to them. These issues have resulted to increase the cases of domestic violence, both against women and children, significantly throughout the world. The helpless www.tjprc.org

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victims have very few options to save themselves from such attacks during the lockdown period. So a thought naturally comes to one’s mind that how the people in the past have dealt with these kinds of pandemics? In this paper I have tried to highlight some of the great pandemics in the history of mankind and their effects on human life and compared it with the Covid-19 and the overall impact it has on the human society across the world in general and India in particular in the 21st century.

PANDEMICS AND EPIDEMICS An epidemic is generally defined as a sudden outbreak of any particular disease that spreads very swiftly from one individual to the other. The diseases in an epidemic are mostly contagious in nature which facilitates in its spreading at a swifter rate. And when an epidemic spreads over a large region, often among different countries of different continents, affecting hundreds and thousands of life then it turns into a pandemic. One typical similarity between the two is that in both cases the disease is mostly novel. The world has previously never seen or heard of it and this helps the pathogens to catch the human civilization off guard. There are no specific medicines or vaccinations available to tackle the pathogens at that time which eventually results in the death of millions. Since the germ is absolutely new people usually are not aware of the dos and don’ts’ of this disease, which leads to quick spreading of it across countries and sometimes even continents.

Another important feature of epidemics or pandemics is that many a times the diseases are zoonotic in nature, which means they transfer from animals to humans. We have many examples of this. Rats were the main cause behind the Black Death in Europe that led to the death of more than two hundred million people. Even in recent times the world has witnessed quite a few epidemics and pandemics that are zoonotic- like Ebola and Nipah both originated from bats, bird flu (H5N1/H7N9) both came from chickens, camels are the source of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), Swine flu (H1N1) came from pigs.

However scientists are yet to find out the actual cause behind the rise of the corona virus, which is currently causing great devastations across many continents. There are multiple theories behind its origins: initially it was thought that the virus came from bats, then there was a theory that it originated due to an accident at a biosafety level 4 laboratory in Wuhan city of China. Some are also of the opinion that China launched this bio medical weapon deliberately in order to rule the world as the only super power. But, as mentioned earlier, none of these theories are definitively proven as of yet.

GLOBAL PANDEMICS ACROSS HISTORY Antonine Plague The Antonine Plague, also known as the Plague of Galen, occurred in 165 CE and spread like wildfire at various parts of the world including Asia Minor, Egypt and particularly the Roman cities of Italy. It took place during the time of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, the last of the Five Good Emperors. It occurred in two phases- in the first phase (161-180 CE) the entire Roman Empire was affected, while the second outbreak (251-266 CE) occurred due to the compounding effects of the earlier outbreak. Galen, a Greek physician, has described the various symptoms of this disease which has led modern researchers to infer that this disease was most likely to be smallpox or measles. There are quite a few stories and theories regarding the origin of this disease. The most plausible one is that this disease originated in China sometime before 166 CE and started to spread towards Rome through the trading ships. The Roman soldiers caught the disease during the siege of Seleucia and spread it to Gaul and among the troops who were posted along the Rhine River.

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The pandemic had a severe impact on the Roman Empire and many believed that it also contributed to its eventual decline. The disease spread rapidly among the soldiers of the Roman army when they came in contact with each other. As a result of this Marcus Aurelius had to recruit any well built men who could fight – like the Germans, peasants, freed slaves, gladiators etc. This gradually declined the quality of the army and made the gates of Rome open for invasions which ultimately brought its demise. According to Roman historian Dio Cassius deaths in Rome rose to two thousand per day during the first phase of the pandemic while during the second the numbers rose to five thousand. It was further pointed out that almost one third to one fourth of the population died during this time. The economic toll of the plague was also quite devastating. The huge death rates reduced the number of tax payers which made it difficult for the ruling class to run the government. It also significantly decreased the number of peasants as a result of which the production of food crops decline leading to the increase of the prices of food grains which further added to the misery of the people.

Plague of Justinian The bubonic plague that affected the Byzantine Empire during the mid sixth century CE was known as the Plague of Justinian. This was also the first recorded incident of bubonic plague. Famous Byzantine historian Procopius mentioned some of the common symptoms of this plague which included nightmares, delusions comas etc. However, currently symptoms of bubonic plague include fever, chills, headache etc. Modern scientists are of the opinion that like current bubonic plagues the Plague of Justinian was also caused due to fleas. Various researches have been conducted regarding the origin of this plague and most scientists have come to the conclusion that this plague probably originated in one of the Asian countries probably China or India. From there, through the trade routes, it spread to Egypt and from there it was carried over the Mediterranean Sea. The extent to which the disease was spread is still quite uncertain due to the dearth of ancient records but it included the entire Mediterranean region, and also parts of England, Germany, and North Africa etc.

The impact of this plague was quite severe. It was estimated that around fifty percent of the total population of Europe was wiped out by this plague. More than twenty five million people died. The city of Constantinople was destroyed where, during the peak of this pandemic, roughly five thousand people were dying every day.

The Black Death From 1346 to 1353 the catastrophic bubonic plague that struck many Asian and European countries is popularly known as the Black Death. It was initially believed that the birth of this plague took place in Asia over two thousand years ago and was likely carried to different parts of the world via trading ships. However recent researches have pointed out that this germ could have existed in Europe since 3000BC. Famous Italian poet Giovanni Boccaccio described the disease to be highly contagious and could spread from “mere touching of clothes”. The common symptoms include fever, chills, diarrhoea, pains and aches etc. At the initial level it strikes the lymphatic systems and if it is not properly diagnosed or treated then it spread to other areas like blood or lungs.

Modern scientists have found out that the plague was caused by bacteria (Bacillus) called Yersina Pestis. This bacterium is air borne but it can also spread if any infected flea or rat bites an individual. In Medieval Europe these pests are mostly found at the home aboard ships and this way this disease spread so quickly form one place to another. The places where the disease spread included Messina, Rome, Florence, Paris, Marseilles, Tunis and even London. It is generally estimated the Black Death has caused the death of around fifty million people in Europe which is more than sixty percent of Europe’s total population. Since medical science was not so developed during that time the disease was not properly treated. Doctors usually used unhygienic methods to treat this plague. Some of them also availed certain www.tjprc.org

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superstitious practices including burning of herbs or bathing in rosewater. People were so panic stricken those doctors even declined to see the patients and priests didn’t want to perform the last rites. All the shops remained closed. Many people left the place and settled in countryside but they could not escape the plague as it also affected the farm animals like goats chicken pigs etc, Some religious fanatics thought it to be a punishment inflicted upon them by the Gods for all the sins they have committed. A large number of Jews were slaughtered during this period because for some this was the only way to win back their God’s favour.

It is important to note here that the Black Death never really ended. It is still there but the people have able to control its spread. Like the officials of the city of Ragusa, who kept the sailors, arriving from different parts of the world, in isolation for a certain number of days in order to be certain they are not carrying the pathogen. The word ‘quarantine’ has originated from this. In today’s world medical science have able to control the spread and impact of Black Death but have not been able to eradicate it completely. Still every year around one thousand to three thousand cases of plague are being reported throughout the world according to WHO (World Health Organization).

Spanish Flu Pandemic One of the most notable examples of unforeseen danger that viral epidemics represent was the Spanish Flue of 1918. The infected people were more than five hundred million throughout the world which is around one third of the entire world’s population. Around twenty to fifty million people died among which six hundred and seventy five thousands were only Americans. It is important to note here that the Spanish flu did not originate in Spain. But since the Spanish media was the first to report about its outbreak it was believed that the pandemic originated in Spain. Scientists still have not been able to figure out from where this flue actually came. Some believe it came from France others believe it was USA or France.

Some also inferred that the disease was carried by infected soldiers who spread it to other areas when they travelled.

Initially this flu was witnessed in Europe America and Asia and very soon it spread to other parts of the world. The flu spread in USA in two phases. During the first phase the impact was quite small and the death rates were very little. During its second phase the flu took a deadly turn when patients expired within hours or days after developing the symptoms.

Many World War I servicemen got affected during this outbreak. Since, there were no vaccines or proper medicines for this disease during that time the doctors found it extremely difficult to cure the patients. Some of them even prescribed their patients to take aspirin more than thirty grams per day causing aspirin poising which turned out to be the primary cause for October deaths. Moreover since the World War was going on at that time there was serious reduction in the number of available doctors and health workers. Some of the doctors themselves were suffering from the same disease.

Since all the hospitals were full many schools colleges and private homes were converted into hospitals. All the schools, offices, public places were closed. People mostly stayed indoors. Even handshaking and spitting was disallowed. By the end of summer 1919 those people who were infected either died or developed immunity and that is how this pandemic came to an end. Even after this pandemic USA has been hit by several flu but none could beat the devastations caused by the Spanish flu of 1918.

HIV/AIDS Pandemic Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that causes AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), is one of the most serious health issues of the modern world. Since the beginning of this pandemic around seventy five million people have been affected by this disease and more than thirty two million have lost their lives. According to World Health

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Organization, by the end of 2018 more than thirty seven million people were affected by this disease throughout the world.

This disease most probably developed in Democratic Republic of Congo during the 1920s when a chimpanzee virus was transferred to humans. HIV can spread through sexual intercourse (both homosexual as well as heterosexual), use of drug injection, through sex workers etc. There is a large proportion of HIV affected cases among the prisoners. It can also be transferred from mother to child if the mother is affected during pregnancy. It is one of the leading causes of death among women of reproductive age. Young people aged between fifteen to twenty four accounts for about one third of new HIV infections. In order to combat HIV various prevention methods has been introduced which includes behaviours change program, condoms, HIV testing, blood supply safety, male circumcision etc. However no vaccinations has been discovered as of yet. In 1987 World Health Organization’s Global Programme on AIDS was one of the earliest efforts to combat against HIV. Since then many other initiatives has been taken to eradicate HIV form the world which includes: The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund), etc. The Sustainable Development Goal 3 aims to eradicate AIDS by 2030. But despite such efforts throughout the world the year 2018 alone has witnessed 1.7 million new infections. Sub Saharan Africa is the worst hit region where more than two thirds of the people affected by HIV infections. In the same year around seven hundred and seventy thousand people have died globally due to AIDS although this was a significant decline in the date rate of 2004 which was around two million.

COVID- 19 The COVID-19 pandemic is considered as the most critical health crisis of this century and the biggest challenge that the world has ever faced since the Second World War. This disease first appeared in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China in December 2019. It was later named by World Health Organization as Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019). SARS- CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus-2), which is a new category of corona virus, is considered to be root cause behind the disease. According to the latest data of World Health Organization the total number of confirmed cases around the world is more than five and a half million. And among them more than three hundred and fifty thousand have lost their lives. Among the different regions around the world America and Europe are the worst affected. Till now scientist have not been able to find out any proper medicine or vaccine for this disease and it is spreading like wildfire throughout the globe.

Quarantine, Social distancing, partial or complete lockdown, avoidance of large gatherings are some of the basic tools which are being used currently to combat this disease as this disease is highly contagious. This has seriously disrupted the socio-economic life of millions of people around the world and has seriously forced the economy into the path of recession.

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Table 1: Death Toll in Pandemics Name of the Pandemic Year Death Toll Antonine Plague 165-180 CE 05 Million Plague of Justinian 541-542 CE 30-50 Million The Black Death 1347-1351 CE 200 Million The Spanish Flu 1918-19 40-50 Million HIV/AIDS 1981- Present 25-35 Million Covid-19 2019- Present 360K

The above table depicts some of great pandemics that took place in the world and the number of lives they have taken. Although the data of total number of deaths due to pandemics in past are not quite exact due to the paucity of www.tjprc.org

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sources still from the available materials and historical writings it can safely said that till now the death toll due to Covid 19 is very much less compared to other pandemics of the past, especially if we look into the number of death due to the Black Death in Europe which wiped out half of its population. Although the numbers are still rising but thanks to the medical advancement of this century it can be believed that the numbers would remain significantly low compared to the others.

NOVEL CORONOVIRUS EXPERIENCE (COVID 19) Since its inception the novel Coronavirus has claimed the lives of more than three hundred and seventy thousand across the globe. Since the virus was first active in China, the death toll there was highest among the rest of the other countries in the initial stages. Later, when the disease started to spread across other countries China was superseded by countries like Italy, where the total number of the deaths have crossed the thirty thousand mark. On the other hand China have able to flatten the curve of death rates with only a little above four thousand deaths. USA on the other hand leads the chart of death rates followed by UK. The death rate in USA has already crossed the hundred thousand mark by the end of May 2020 and the number is still rising every day. In India, although the number of cases is rising exponentially each day, the same cannot be said about the death rate. A country that ranks seventh in total number of covid cases across the globe, the total number of deaths is around five thousand five hundred till May. A country which has the second largest population in the world (1.3 billion approx) and with quite poor medical infrastructure in certain areas, it can be said that India has fared quite better compared to other developed nations when it comes to containing the death rates of her citizens due to Coronavirus.

Figure 1: Global Death Rate due to COVID- 19 (Coronavirus).

Lockdown is one of the main weapons which many countries have adopted in order to fight Covid-19. It basically means shutting down all public places, workplaces, schools, colleges, basic transportation and keeping everyone at home in order to prevent the spreading of the disease. But although this way of fighting the Covid has reduced the spreading to greater numbers but at the same time this lockdown has severely impacted social, cultural and mainly the economic life of different nations around the world.

According to International Monetary fund (IMF) the world economy is most likely to go down by over three percent in 2020, which is considered as the steepest slowdown since the Great Depression of the 1930s. In USA, since March 21st, about twenty five percent of the working population (around thirty six million people) have filed for unemployment benefits. The IMF report also shows how the manufacturing process in many countries has gone down Impact Factor (JCC): 8.8746

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which reflecting a slump in demand both internal as well as external economies such as the US, Japan, the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain are expected to contract this year by 5.9, 5.2, 6.5, 7, 7.2, 9.1 and 8 per cent respectively. During the first quarter of 2020, China’s GDP fell by 36.6 percent. On the other hand, South Korea, a country which has not adopted any lockdown method, has experienced their output to fall by 5.5 percent. GDPs of France, Italy and Spain also fell by 21.3, 19.2 and 17.5 percent respectively. Due to this lockdown many countries have imposed a travel ban both national as well as international which has resulted in the prices of oil to go down significantly. Due to closure of all the factories the requirement for industrial metals has also slumped. In matters of food prices the IMF has estimated a reduction in the prices of food by 2.6 percent in 2020. There are multiple reasons behind this decline – including supply chain disruptions, food security concerns in affected regions, ban on export etc. During the lockdown period some of the food items like cereals, seafood, coffee have experienced an increase in price while the prices of some other items like meat, cotton and wool have gone down.

The social impact of this lockdown in no less significant either. This lockdown period has witnessed an increasing surge in domestic violence cases all over the world among which women and children are most vulnerable. In Europe only there is a sixty percent rise in calls by women who are subjected to some form of domestic violence. The UN agency for sexual and reproductive health (UNFPA) has estimated that if lockdown is extended for another six months the cases for domestic violence would rise to thirty one million around the world. The lockdown has significantly narrowed the various places of leisure for the public in general which includes closure of restaurants, bars, religious places, movie theatres and even sports events resulting their frustration and boredom to elevate each day. Most of them cannot even go to work and there is always this uncertainty of losing their jobs which adds to their frustration.

The lockdown has also severe impacts in the field of education. Since all the schools are closed during this period this has affected the life of two hundred and ninety million students around the world according to UNESCO. Although many schools have adopted the method of digital learning, this too has serious drawbacks. Many parents cannot attend their own personal work due to childcare liabilities. Moreover this digital learning is mainly dependent on the availability of internet which is not easily accessible or affordable at all places. Also this sort of digital learning is highly disadvantageous for disabled students throughout the world.

The lockdown also seems to have taken a toll on the mental health of many people across the globe. Isolation, lack of mobility, loneliness, uncertainty, salary cuts or fear of losing jobs are some of the main causes behind the rise of mental anxieties during this lockdown. Mental depression has also led to a spike in alcoholism or other forms of intoxicants consumptions. These growing mental frustrations have also led to an increase in cases of domestic violence.

Besides these those, who were already suffering from various mental ailments, are finding it difficult to get their medicines as most of the shops are closed and many of them are not willing to give them the medicines without any proper prescriptions.

The only light amidst all darkness is the impact on environment. Although this lockdown, due to Covid-19 pandemic, have affected the livelihoods of many people there is one arena where it had a positive impact and that is improving the quality of the environment. Compared to 2019 levels, the nitrogen dioxide level in China has dropped by forty percent. In UK and other parts in Europe around eleven thousand people have died less due to pollution throughout the month of April. The top three European countries that have avoided death due to pollution are Germany, UK and Italy.

Los Angeles (US), the city with a high level of smog, has experienced noticeable drops in nitrogen emissions. In March www.tjprc.org

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2020, according NASA, there is a thirty percent reduction in nitrogen dioxide emission in New York and other areas of north east USA

(Source) https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/blogs/mumbai-flamingos-pollution Figure 2: Massive Influx of Flamingos in Navi Mumbai.

India and its Fight against COVID 19 The first case of Covid-19 was reported in India in the month of March and since then till the last week of May the total number of cases has crossed the one hundred and fifty thousand mark out of which more than four thousand five hundred have lost their lives. Like many other nations in order to combat this pandemic India has also adopted the method of complete lockdown since the last week of March. Although this has significantly helped to constrain the spread of this disease the negative impact which it had over the lives of the people and the nation in general is obviously cannot be ignored.

Figure 3: Death Rate in India due to Coronavirus (till 28 May 2020).

International Monetary Fund has estimated the growth rate of India for FY21 to 1.9 percent. Previously it had projected the rate to be 5.8 percent but due to the economic slump experienced during this lockdown the IMF has revised its prediction. According to Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) the rate of unemployment to rose to 24.3 percent by the third week of May from 8.8 percent which was in March (before the initiation of lockdown). Moreover due

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to observance of strict travel ban rules the intra state as well as interstate trade and commerce was significantly disrupted resulting in rise of prices of essential food items like sugar, vegetables pulses as well as other commodities as well.

Like in other countries cases of domestic violence has also witnessed a surge in India. Between March 23 and April 16 Indian National Commission for Women has registered five hundred and eighty seven cases of domestic violence has been registered. The entire lockdown period has forced many men to sit idle at home without any job or source of income. This has raised the level of frustration among them forcing them to take it out upon the women and children of the house. Besides this there is a complete ban on all religious gatherings and festivals. This also had a severe economic impact as most people do a lot of shopping during festivals which is an avenue for additional income for many. But this lockdown has deprived them of this as well.

All the schools colleges and universities are closed during this time which is clearly affecting the students. Many of the board exams are still pending and will only take place once this lockdown is lifted. The Union Government as well as the State Governments is seriously considering various ways to normalise the education system and conduct all the pending examinations at their own convenience. Various schools have also started taking online classes but they too have certain disadvantages as mentioned earlier. Besides many teachers have complained that some of the parents interferes a lot during this online classes which hampers the teaching mechanism. Besides some of the students even resort to avail certain unfair means during examinations and tests.

One of the worst affected occupational groups, due to this nationwide lockdown, was the migrant workers. These migrant workers, unable to find any jobs in their own state, has to travel thousands of kilometers to other states where they are mostly engaged in construction or other manual activities. The sudden decision of the government to implement this lockdown throughout the country has brought numerous hardships to these workers. Since they were not at their home state they did not have a place to stay. They lost their jobs and had no money to buy foods for them. Along with this, due to the ban on travelling, they were unable to return home which added to their misery. Initially various state governments were quite ignorant as well as reluctant to bring back these workers back to their home because of the fear that many of them could be infected. And since the governments were not taking any initiative to bring them back some of these workers have decided to travel back to their home state by cycling or walking hundreds of kilometers. Many of them also lost their lives in the process. In Maharashtra sixteen migrant workers lost their lives in a train accident while they fell asleep on railway tracks due to fatigue. In Bihar, nine workers lost their lives and many more were injured when a bus and truck crashed against each other. According to a report published by Save Life Foundation, forty two workers have died in road accidents while they were returning to their home.

On the other hand, however, this lockdown period did have some positive impacts especially in improving the quality of the environment of various states. The air quality index of New Delhi, which usually remains in the range of two hundred, has fallen below twenty. After thirty years Ganges dolphins have returned to the Ganga River. Not only this, the Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board has declared the water of Har-Ki-Pauri Ghat to be fit for drinking after chlorination.

Thus, this lockdown should act as an eye opener for all of us and motivate us to maintain these levels even after the lockdown ends so that we can preserve Mother Nature and live in a much cleaner environment.

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In Search for Relief in India Economic Relief Packages to fight Covid-19: Despite these tough times which all the people around the globe are facing due to the lockdown the Governments of various countries have announced certain relief packages for their citizens. USA, one of the worst affected nations, has announced a relief package worth 2.5 trillion dollars in different phases. United Kingdom has started a Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme through which grants will be provided to various companies to pay eight percent of staff wage every month to the tune of two thousand and five hundred pounds per person.

Besides this a 1.25 billion pound Coronavirus package was announced to protect firms that are driving innovation. Italy has announced a twenty five billion euro package to combat Covid. Pakistan has also announced a 1.25 trillion Pakistan Rupees economic relief package to tackle this situation.

Government Relief Measures: In order to fight against this pandemic the Union government as well as the various state Governments have announced certain relief measures for the public who are employed in different sectors.

The Central Government has announced a relief package of twenty lakh crore rupees to revive the economy. Besides this, under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (Self-Reliant India Initiatve) the union government has decided to provide credit facilities worth three lakh crore rupees to micro small and medium enterprises. Alongside this under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana the government has approved an insurance scheme of worth fifty lakh rupees for frontline health workers who are working day and night to combat this deadly pandemic. Also, in order to bring back the migrant workers back to their home state the government has started various ‘Special Shramik (workers) Trains. The entire cost of this travelling facility will bear by the respective state government either by the originating state or the one receiving them. Till the second week of May 2020, more than seven lakh migrants labour has brought back to their home state. Besides the states have stacked their fair price shops with food grains and other basic necessities so that the people can procure them by paying a very low price. This will further help the poor people to survive in these extreme situations when most people are jobless.

Future: Since no particular medicine or vaccinations have so far been identified or discovered, severe or partial lockdown is probably the only way to stop the spread of this deadly disease. The medical facilities of many countries including India are quite limited and if this disease takes a catastrophic turn then it would become very difficult for the Government of any country to save the lives of their citizens as most of those countries do not have that much number of doctors, health workers and hospital facilities. So it is better to follow the lockdown norm as much as possible for now.

After this pandemic gets over lives of many people will not be the same as it used to be. Those who have undergone various sorts of physical as well as mental trauma during this period, it will take time to get back their lives to normalcy.

Many have lost their jobs, others have lost their near and dear ones and some of them have also recovered from this deadly disease. Such memories and experiences cannot be erased so easily. For some this could also be a permanent scar.

But we should not lose hope in these extreme times and should have faith among ourselves because the world has faced many pandemics before when medical science was not as advanced as it is today and the death tolls were quite higher. But still people have able to beat those pandemics successfully. However it is important to note here that many of those diseases are still here like plague, flu or HIV so on the other side there is still the possibility that Corona virus might not be completely eradicated. Sanitizers and masks might become a part of our everyday life. Now at this point all we can hope is that there is a big breakthrough in the field of medical science and an appropriate vaccine or medicine is discovered

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somewhere in this world so that people can move out of this lockdown condition ,go back to their daily lives and earn their bread and butter.

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