{"id":118950,"date":"2021-10-06T16:54:32","date_gmt":"2021-10-06T23:54:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=118950"},"modified":"2021-10-06T16:54:32","modified_gmt":"2021-10-06T23:54:32","slug":"covid-19-changed-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/10\/06\/covid-19-changed-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 Changed the World!"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

FOCUS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

COVID-19\nis a deadly infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Many become\nvictims of the pandemic daily. The severity of the disease depends on the\nperson\u2019s immune system, some recover without special treatment; others become\nseriously ill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a\nlast resort, ICU units give oxygen to patients who suffer from pneumonia. Many\nworld leaders have become victims as the virus does not have any class\ndistinctions or social barriers when it affects a person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Delta\nvariant <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nvariant identified as Delta is supposed to be deadly. The bug can travel in the\natmosphere to infect many people. The figures keep on increasing daily.\nMeanwhile, critics against vaccinations say that unusual blood clots are a\npossible side effect of the vaccine. Blood clots in circulation are usually\ndeadly as they may precipitate pulmonary embolism, strokes, and heart\nattacks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless,\ncritics say because of the vigorous campaign by the Government, in tandem with\nthe rumour generated fear factor, people rush to various vaccination centres en\nmasse to get the jab. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sri\nLanka Government obtained sufficient stocks of various kinds of injections and\ncarried out an inoculation campaign. On 20 July 2021, Sri Lanka reached the top\nof the world community list on vaccination programmes. It has now embarked on a\nvigorous vaccination programme to immunise young school children over 12 years\nwith the Pfizer vaccine. \\<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schoolchildren <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bearing\nin mind that the young today will be statesmen tomorrow, it goes without saying\nthat keeping schools closed indefinitely will only help bring up a set of nincompoops\ndue to the lack of formal education. Since the closure of all schools, children\nlearnt online, but the children\u2019s future was hampered when the teachers went\non strike and came on to the streets aided by trade unions and several\npolitical parties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After\nhaggling for the last 24 years, the rebellious teachers want the whole of their\ndemands met at once like a shot in the back The Government\nrecognises their needs are genuine. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the global\neconomy, along with Sri Lanka\u2019s has collapsed. However, the Government is ready\nto meet their demands in the November 2021 Budget. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is\ncrystal clear that school teachers do not seem to\ncare about the children\u2019s education. Their only objective seems to be, that in\nspite of the pandemic, to get their demands met though the country is\nstruggling to solve the dollar crisis. The rich will somehow manage to educate\ntheir children by sending them to international schools in Sri Lanka or to\noverseas universities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile,\nit is hilarious to learn through Social Media that prominent political party\nleaders who lead teacher protests educate their children in Ireland and the UK.\nIt clearly shows the duplicity of their political ideology. It is the poor\nchildren who get affected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schoolteachers\nare supposed to be intelligent, but in this instance they\nhave come out to the streets and make a noisy din forgetting about their\ncommitment and dedication towards their pupils, especially during the pandemic.\nHave teachers sadly become wound toys<\/em><\/strong> by wicked and selfish union\nleaders with ulterior motives to debase and defile the present Government?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COVID-19\nchanged the world <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone\nin the world needs to change their lifestyles to suit the COVID-19 pandemic.\nThe pandemic will be with the people for several years to come, akin to a\ntypical nose cold. A good thing about COVID-19 is it has brought some\ndiscipline in Sri Lanka, especially when travelling by buses in comfort- which\nis a blessing in disguise<\/em><\/strong>, rather than getting packed like sardines\ninside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 At\ntimes not even a strong person can maintain one\u2019s\nbalance when drivers\nrecklessly manipulate their buses. Therefore, people must\nlearn to live with COVID-19, whereby self-discipline becomes foremost in the\nschedule. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nCOVID-19 pandemic made the people the world over a disciplined society to a\ncertain extent. However, some individuals still do not pay any heed to health\nadvice or Government instructions. Simultaneously, different countries adopt\nvarious methods to open their lands, concentrating on their economy. Sri Lanka\nagain introduced a \u2018shut down\u2019 and opened on 01 October 2021. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Religious\nceremonies <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile,\nthe Buddhist clergy organised impassioned programmes in various parts of the\nisland and conducted special programmes by chanting \u2018pirith\u2019<\/em><\/strong>;\nother religious leaders performed their sanctified religious events to curb the\nspreading of the disease. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nseems to be an impact on such religious observations towards the\ndowntrend of the infected persons and deaths, but the medical experts indicate\nthat \u2018Sri Lanka is not yet out of the woods\u2019! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The\nremarkable aspect what COVID-19 has brought is mainly to discipline the public\nin many ways. It assisted people in familiarising themselves with online\nservices using computers and children to study online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many\nentrepreneurs have devised various methods to generate income rather than\nadopting a defeated attitude! Also, it has helped to cut down on unnecessary expenses by paying expensive bills to funeral\nparlours and associated services; organising buffets to feed the sympathisers\nwho visit the funeral house. When a person dies as a COVID-19 victim, the dead\nbody gets incinerated within 24 hours. It also cuts down the virtual\nindebtednes to banks by relatives (by trying to keep up with the Joneses).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The\ndifference of opinion in the society is whether all are equal before the law:\nas far as disposal of the dead bodies are concerned. All this means the\nrelatives will never get a chance to see the deceased relative\u2019s face. The\ndeceased individual cannot see any such activity, but these traditions of\nglorified funerals have come down for generations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another\ngood news is about mortality reduced to zero rate \u2018with fast recovery and no severe complications<\/em><\/strong>\u2019 reported on COVID-19 patients in Ayurveda hospitals in Sri Lanka. Only\nrecently, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa took a firm decision to seek Ayurveda\nassistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Many\nSri Lankans believe that ancestral treatment has existed since time immemorial.\nRecords show how Sri Lankans had weathered many an infectious disease in the\npast with Ayurveda and local orthodox medicine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With\nthe onslaught of COVID-19, many Homoeopaths, Ayurvedic doctors, and traditional\ndoctors have invented numerous methods and preparations to fight against the\nCovid-19 virus and its variants, enabling a boosted immune system to fight\nagainst the infection , and also as a prophylactic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nlatest is an inhaler<\/em><\/strong> using rare traditional herbs in Sri Lanka,\nwhere ancestors used to combat epidemics. While using the inhaler one needs not be fearful in gobbling any concoctions – <\/em><\/strong>Kasaya or paniya<\/em><\/strong>–<\/em><\/strong> anymore. It is available in the local market, and\nis said to kill any virus, COVID-19 plus variants, and other viruses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 tilakfernando@gmail.com<\/strong> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando FOCUS COVID-19 is a deadly infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Many become victims of the pandemic daily. The severity of the disease depends on the person\u2019s immune system, some recover without special treatment; others become seriously ill.  As a last resort, ICU units give oxygen to patients who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-drtilak-s-fernando"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118950\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}