COVID-19: WE SHALL OVERCOME

Asoke K. Laha, President and CEO, Interra Information Technologies.

There are many people who think the world will not be the same again after COVID-19. One thing I can tell without any reservation that the pandemic has had its impact on how people think, work, react, etc.

I cannot recall the days of the Second World War, perhaps the last historical event of similar menacing proportions. I am told during that time also, though India was not directly involved in the war, things were gloomy, uncertain and catastrophic. That part of India - West Bengal,  was particularly hit because of the complex rivalries that surfaced between the British and the Indian National Army led by Subash Chandra Bose.

This time also around people are fighting hard though in a different way. They are fighting against a virus, whose identity is not discerned, which can be seen only through a microscope which has a very high magnifying power. The only thing the mankind knows about it is that it has the shape of a crown and that is why it is called corona, the Latin equivalent of crown. This war is special. Unlike the normal wars that are fought between groups, countries, regions or continents, this war has brought all people, regions and for that matter every bit of geographical configuration together to fight against an invisible organic body, which cannot be seen through naked eyes. 

In hardly a few weeks’ time, the discourse has changed completely. Everything is now focused on virus, its menacing footprints that make millions infected, leaving thousands dead and billions living with the fear of being infected.

Most visible sign is the plight of the television channels, which used to compete among themselves to break news on a variety of issues, are now using that terminology only for updating corona virus cases. Everyone is glued to their idiot box to know more about what is happening about the COVID-19, how many are infected and how many are dead, whether enough ventilators have been made available, whether quarantine facilities are arranged,  whether gloves, masks sanitizers, and healthcare devices are  in required numbers etc.

Till the last week of March, the issues that figured in the discourse were political standoff in Madhya Pradesh , Citizenship Bill, Rajya Sabha elections, preparations for the  next round of assembly elections etc. Those have become things of the past. The discourse is now centered around  COVID-19, with sprinklings of debate on economic package, how to reach the affected persons to give them doles to come out of the miseries that they are facing etc. That obviously will be the tenor of discussions till the time the virus is contained. This is not a national but a worldwide phenomenon.

In the ubiquitous lockdown millions of my countrymen and fellow human beings are working from home (WFH).

This will have many spin offs.  It  will help reduce pressure on the roads and the traffic, which is assuming menacing proportions these days.  It will lead to considerable reduction in pollution on account of reduction in burning the fuel. Also  saving on imported oil would be considerable helping the country to cut the huge import bill. This experiment can be done in the government departments, where physical presence is not needed all the time. For instance, research works, preparation of reports, drafting of communications, even some of the meetings can be done through digital platforms saving a lot of time and at the same time shore up the productivity of each employee. It is important to evolve an enabling ecosystem for implementing the scheme.

Employees are talking with each other and with customers using virtual Video Conference technologies. As people are getting used to WFH culture,  some of them have discovered that the productivity remains unchanged, in some cases  productivity has increased in the absence of unnecessary and unproductive meetings in the office.  I fully expect that even after lock down will be over,  partial WFH culture will be adopted.

The other thought that had come to my mind is about the locations that the virus has spread more intensely. I used the term ‘more intensely’ purposely. The incidences of infection and deaths were mostly reported from the developed world and by and large, so far, the developing countries are not affected that much. Countries like US, Italy, Spain, and the UK and of course, China and Iran are countries had to bear the brunt of the disease. Barring Iran, the rest of the countries are not only developed (China is categorized as an emerging economy) but also tech savvy. The medical science and healthcare are undoubtedly advanced in these countries except Iran. Still they had to throw their hands in despair to control the virus. At the same time, countries in Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and Middle East, the intensity of the pandemic is much lower in comparison, so far. One hopes that could be so in future also since the healthcare infrastructure in these countries is fragile. For instance, of the 54 countries in Africa, hardly handful of them has resemblance of a healthcare system. The WHO statistics reveal that although all countries in Africa have a huge healthcare deficit, it is somewhat primitive in the Sub-Saharan region.

Organizations like WHO should have a proactive plan to address the pandemic if the incidences pick up later. The latest official figures indicate that 46 of the 54 countries have registered infections of lower range.

There is a lead time for WHO and African Union to take some precautionary measures in the event of a spread in the coming days. I think that technology should find a solution of this problem. Tele-medicine can be an effective method to reach out to the places in Africa, where health infrastructure is not adequate or virtually nil. These digital platforms can be operated from distant places to treat the people and importantly for disseminating valuable preventive methods in local languages. In inaccessible places, drones should be used to supply medicines and preventive care articles like sanitizers, gloves, masks etc. There is a lead time for these countries to make arrangements for procuring ventilators required for treating people who have developed complications. Let us hope that such priorities may not remain as wish lists for other countries and multilateral organizations. The world has to service Africa and Africans.  Most of the developed countries today have been using the natural resources of Africa for building their strong ‘brick and mortar’ industry. That way they have a responsibility towards the Africans, who have been always at the receiving end.

That takes me to the issue that has intrigued me and many of my friends in the media and corporate world, : why the COVID-19 has done more damage to the developed world: why technology so far has become a helpless spectator while the virus has been making its deadly inroads into human civilization; how the virus has spread like  wildfire exponentially; where does the virus originate from; has it been passed from animal to man or through other intermediaries; why did humanity fail to come out with a vaccine or medicine for the virus even though it had been taking the toll of mankind at different time periods; does it have an anthropological context in the sense that some races are more prone to it than others; can the virus be made in labs (at least to scotch some of the rumors that are being  floated around) and most importantly, can this virus be stamped out for ever; if so, when?

I am sure these questions are suffocating the minds of people all around the world. I hope sooner or later we will find answers to them. Meanwhile let us keep fighting together and use technology and human intelligence to get over the difficult times.

I will close this article with a song "We Shall Overcome" by Joan Baez. It is so appropriate  in today’s context.