In the second week of January, my mom showed me a picture depicting a virus and its rapid spread throughout the city of Wuhan in China. The article said that the virus was a branch of a type of virus, called the Coronaviruses.
This new branch called the Novel Coronavirus or Covid-19 was something scientists had never seen before. I was not so shocked or stunned, because I knew that there had been various breakouts like SARS and Flu, but eventually, they had come under control. So, I assumed, that this “Coronavirus” was not such a big deal too.
But it did turn out to be a big deal. The newspapers were flooded with news of the Coronavirus. I was relieved to find out that there were no cases of the coronavirus in India.
But so much for my happiness, as only a week later, I found out that the virus had reached India. Not only that, but a child’s father from my own school had been infected by it. Now, things were getting a little scary.
I reminiscent the times when the Coronavirus had just started and compared it to the present-day situation. It is high time we started taking precautions, like wearing masks, washing hands frequently and carrying a sanitizer handy wherever we go.
Apart from the amount of destruction caused by this virus, there was something that broke the hearts of us, children even more. Because of the Coronavirus, our school trip to Lucknow was cancelled. Everyone in Grade 6 was extremely excited about the trip. Some of the students had started packing more than a week ago. Sorrow craved our hearts.
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Yet, there was a silver lining in the dark clouds. We had one last final exam left, which I was not so confident about. As if reading my mind, the principal of our school e-mailed and told us that we had a week of holidays. And after the exams got over, we got a month of holidays! The icing on the cake.
Holidays are for having fun, partying, playing with friends, watching movies, travelling etc. Unfortunately, my holidays weren’t. As my exams got over, I planned a get-together party at my house. I had worked very hard and planned all the games and menu, but because of the Coronavirus, most of the people refused to attend it. Therefore, I had to cancel the party. To cheer me up, my mom planned to take me out for a movie, as I had not seen one in months. And the very next day, all the malls, cinemas, offices and schools were closed. It was as if I was isolated at home.
In the end, it is not only me who is bored, as someone said,
“Are you as bored as I am? Read that backwards, it is not only you.”
Lastly, I also learnt something very important from this incident. Everything happens for a reason. It’s better to be safe than sorry. If the government did not close public places, the number of cases in India would have had a rolling increase. If I had not cancelled my party, someone could have passed on the infection.
Stay safe, stay home and stay happy.