How Darwin’s evolution theory is doing its lab test with Corona.
‘Survival of the fittest’ would have looked like just another concept that has been passed on to us through learning. Over time, we had our own ideas and adapts to the phrase and even justifications, whichever side we took. Books upheld it, text books drummed it in, while the medical fraternity would love to muse on it over high tea in those revelation seminars.
The virus that tried to play a bacteria: But then, a seemingly invisible enemy, call it by any name, it definitely knows the meaning of the word viral. So a virus decides to bring the whole world down to its knees. By first scaring that it can kill. Then by sharing itself faster than the rumours against it can travel. All this, not before posing as a bacteria for some time till antibiotics got numb and Doctors had to call its bluff and declare the Corona what it is, a damn virus! Deadly or not, only Darwin could then tell.
The strain of Corona and its many strains: So they said it could break down your immunity in more ways than one. But before the lungs could get a hang of it, the stomach experienced a different corona. Then before the stomach could get its colon together, it claimed to affect the kidneys. As the confusion prevailed, and the medical fraternity tries to put the corona virus back in its place, it doesn’t cease to surprise the frailty in its next patient. The word was then out, that it mostly effects people with co-morbidities, meaning other illnesses that are looking for a cure, not corona.
Slowly the survivors of Corona knew that if they are healthy, they will continue to be healthy. Maybe, in Darwin’s mind, Corona would be just a mediocre glitch.
Old wine in new doses: The books were out, and so were the stories. The tests were checked, and so were the loopholes. Corona hacks became commonplace from vitamins, supplements to even kitchen miracles that would promise a shield. Would Doctors rule out that virus trap or just declare you sick, if the possibilities were on the borderline. Corona and Darwin were enjoying this merry-go-round, till the Doctors took the Oxford dictionary guys by surprise and they declared the magic word: Asymptomatic. You have it, you have it not, gave way to you may have had it. Period.
The temperature controlled enigma: Low temperature, High temperature, Body temperature, Hot or Humid temperature, suddenly weather forecasting would now go in tandem with predictive analysis of Corona manifesting. Sometimes the media channels would also wait for the Doctor’s suggestion before waiting to end their prophecies on weather tantrums with a Corona wave warning. No longer did Tsunami enjoy the position of a headline buster. Darwin was monitoring the beatification of Corona with rapt attention to get an insider view of the Survival theory getting its due.
Isolation and social distance geometry: Comfortable it was for people who had the option to stay at home. But duty is was for the army of Doctors, Sanitary workers, Health and allied workers, Nursing staff, Police and Security Services, Government agencies and an army of volunteers. The world woke up to the concepts of isolation to end the Corona run, while the distances between people became the topic to keep a tab on. 1 meter said some, 6 feet said many, before the size of the droplets with its athletic mobility to jump on people nearby, kept all theories on.
Is Corona a lesson in hygiene of not to get too close to people or respect their right to privacy in public, keeping our auras from unwanted mingling.
The source and the remorse: The wet markets of China got all the attention as videos of people trading in live animals, live tasting, customers buying them like toffees and savage conditions of display hit the mobile screens. The emotions had a broad range. Ghastly to the most unsuspecting ones, maybe a tad mischievous to the cookery show enthusiasts, brownies for the Ripley’s story hunters, shocking to the environmentalists who believe that the selfish man is doing enough damage to this world already. Just before the epicentre of the Corona nuke surfaced, it also made the world sit up and decide the aftermath of diplomatic repercussions of this behaviour.
Declared a pandemic for a masked world: Most viruses threaten and scare. Here, Corona wreaks havoc on seniors or those with other illnesses they say. But a weakened system is by no means an excuse to give way to a hungry virus. So the world now has masks for all, clean hands advisory and social distancing to be safe. Schools that work from home, work that has made many hunt for some, motivation gone online, new ideas get a pre-mature birth, governments supporting citizens, citizens supporting citizens, and many new lessons to be learnt for a world that was in a hurry. Fitness was always a fad, but now recaptured everyone’s imagination as an antidote to lifelessness, thereby becoming a new normal. Darwin didn’t see this one coming :)
Soon Corona will just be another ordinary virus: Medical science will catch up. Scientists will corner it. Doctors will wipe it out. Pharma companies will mop it up. Governments will dole it out. Citizens of the world will have a new anti-virus to note for their medical history. Countries will famously check your medical passport. Parents will feel safe while children will continue to have more grand-parents braving it and brandishing a victory sign. One dose at a time. Survival of the fittest may have been a Darwin theory, but it has seen its practical avatar in the form of a virus called Corona. This too shall pass.
