By Zile Singh

COVID-19 is still at  the door.  An air of uncertainty prevails  all around.  While all individual and collective efforts in the form of lockdown, social distancing and other standard hygiene are in place, the pandemic has not come to rest.    Its future impacts on economic, social and physical health are enormous.  The question marks relating to Coronavirus are increasing day by day in one form or the other.  Superpowers are gathering documentation and proof to ascertain the real reason of its eruption and spread like a wildfire.    The economic uncertainty is becoming an anxiety for the governments and subjects.  Governments’ are taking all welfare measures to ease the situation. Twenty four hour updates on the pandemic is a morale booster for the public.

According to a recent Canadian Perspectives Survey Series (CPSS) 54% of Canadian aged 15 and above reported very good mental health during the COVID-19 period.   In comparison to this, according to a 2018 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) the figure was 68%.  In comparison to men, women were found to report that they are in poorer mental health.  In Canada, so far, approximately 47 thousand plus positive cases and 26 hundred plus deaths have been reported. The numbers are adding up every day.   There is a general feeling that the    institutions or systems that have kept us safe can no longer be trusted.  The United Nations World Health Organization is also under a cloud of suspicion as to why it delayed its decision to declare the virus as ‘Pandemic’.  By the time a decision to this effect was taken, a lot of damage had already been done throughout the world.  Even the medical supplies (PPE), personal protective equipment to cope with the pandemic are proving in-effective and untrustworthy.  Supplies like Hydroxychloroquine exported by India to many countries have been reported to be causing side effects and the Face Masks donated by the Republic of China have failed their tests. This    mistrust has given rise to more anxiety.  The geopolitical consequences of the pandemic will be enormous and long-lasting. Lately, another harmful effect the virus has caused in several parts of the world is that some communities have been targeted on the basis of their ethnicity and religion by politicians and bigots to grind their axe.

The digression from normal life might lead to  chronic (coronic) health conditions like  anxiety, paranoid and  depression.   Cambridge Dictionary's word of the year 2016 lists ' Anxiety' at number 2 after the word 'Paranoid'. Searches for words like paranoid and anxiety have risen hugely in 2016 over four times more than in 2015. Though the exact figure cannot be verified,  it is certain that in the present situation of COVID-19, the number   might have increased manifolds in comparison to last years. 

On its little positive side,  when  the entire planet is in full or partial lockdown, streets are empty, shops and factories  are closed and previously bustling town and cities have become ghost towns, the pollution levels in cities across the world have come down drastically. The air pollution has  dropped by a whopping 50%, and according to a study from NASA, the north-eastern states of America have seen a 30% decrease. The Nitrogen Oxide levels in China have also reduced by 30%. The skyline of New Delhi, one of the most polluted cities is clearer than before.

There are various methods to get rid of anxiety while in lockdown.  Getting medical help is the foremost. In addition to this, light physical exercise at home, listening and playing music, relaxation, meditation, reading spiritual books and listening to inspirational talks are some effective ways to get relief. During these testing times, many people  have turned to Facebook and WhatsApp also. 

Anxiety wears weakness  and strength equally well at the same time. It is half heaven and half hell. Having a little bit of anxiety once in a while is normal and it is healthy. It allows us to make good decisions. It compels us to think.  “Whoever has learned to be anxious in the right way has learned the ultimate.”- Soren Kierkegaard.

Among my other poetry, one may like the following:

Corona has put a pause on activity.

 All are inactive, a newfound equality.

I miss  those, to whom I was unkind.

Now I realize that I was colour- blind.

Hell with Corona, there is a rising Sun.

 Bane of Corona is a thinking citizen.

Therefore, let us be thinking citizens and in addition to COVID-19, fight bigotry and communalism. 

Zile Singh is much respected Link Columnist, writer, a Vipassana Meditator and has a Post-Graduate Diploma in Human Rights.  He can be reached at zsnirwal@yahoo.ca