well that we can be potential carriers if we step out and come in contact with an infected person. So we need to be cautious and try to keep the elderly and vulnerable well protected. Also, we need to maintain hygiene and take precautions so that we don’t catch the infection. Our mind makes us believe that since the virus is highly contagious and that there are asymptomatic carriers of the virus, we will be easily infected with it. It makes us fear the loss of our life. If this virus was creating only a cough and fever and not causing death, would people panic?
The mind has taken us back a hundred years, where another virus, infamously known as the ‘Spanish flu’, is said to have killed over 50 million people. That was a deadly virus! It attacked the age group of 20-40 years and it is said to have not only spread but also killed instantly, often within 24 hours. That seemed more like a danger, not just a fear. However, the thought of the hundred-year-old pandemic has made this epidemic into a global terror. What is the main cause of our fear? It is not that we will be infected and develop a cough and fever. It is not even the fact that the virus is highly contagious and is spreading through those who are not only sick with the virus but also those who are asymptomatic carriers of this strain. The panic that has gripped the world is the fear of death!