Yolo readers! It’s been quite a while since you’ve seen me on this page and I’d like to caution you to brace yourselves.
Wearing a mask has become a survival essential in the last year. I think people still have to be reminded that the mask is for your nose and mouth together and not just for your mouth. It seems to be the most difficult thing to make part of one’s routine.
You can’t be giving excuses like I can’t breathe. Well, you can. It’s just you have a difficulty in breathing until you get used to this on-mask mechanism. A hanky, dupatta, or a saree’s pallu is not a mask.
I know it sounds ridiculous to be stating it in the first place, but that’s what is happening. Leaving your nose uncovered defeats the purpose of wearing a mask. It isn’t an additional accessory to your face; it is a survival necessity in this chaos.
It’s been a year of this pandemic and virtual lifestyle and luckily most of us got away without getting affected. So this got us conditioned to the myth that we wouldn’t be getting affected in the future as well, which is so not true.
Of course, why would we bother until one of our family members or friend gets affected and suffer? By the virtue of our actions, the government has set its own chessboard. The nation cannot afford another lockdown because they are busy building the fallen “economy” by black marketing vaccines, oxygen cylinders, and hospital beds. Because if there’s a lockdown, there would be an extra dose of responsibilities on the government, to tackle the situation, so we as citizens should be considerate towards the government, got it?
Talking of black marketing and increased commercialization, I don’t know about others, but my university has definitely not reduced the tuition fee by even a percent. Like seriously? 10 months of staying at home, practically no labs and I don’t think the teachers have been paid their full salaries either, but we gotta give in full payments. And now back to square one, I await their sweet dose of reminder by staying at home.
Some of us try to outshine in the crowd, by telling random people in the crowd to mask up or wear their masks properly. I’d say it’s the most unproductive thing to do, especially when they are strangers. Maybe leaving one percent for positivity’s sake, 99% there is no way of getting out of the conversation without escalating a potential conflict.
From changes in government oversight to awareness on media platforms, everybody is making a conscious effort regarding their mask-wearing behavior. Damn, didn’t acknowledge that people could christen this, after all, any action of a human being is often associated with psychology.
There has been scientific research to support my statement which I said earlier. It is the most unproductive thing to do because it tends to get portrayed as public shaming, especially in a country like India. Sorry to be saying this, but if we were that positive, open-minded for constructive criticism with humanity in tonnes, we would have been a better country. Scientists believe it installs a ‘fight or flight response’ in the individual being targeted upon and results in an adrenaline rush and hence the oooo and the aah :-p
Wearing a mask isn’t a dramatic shift in our lifestyles. It is the merest thing one can do in order to protect themselves from contacting the Novel Coronavirus. It isn’t a favor to the government or somebody who’s asking you to wear a mask. If such negligence is displayed, it creates room for policy, for norms, but again they only work if enforced. That’s altogether a different ground for debate, I don’t wanna go there.
Why do you think the second wave is so intense and having massive impact? It isn’t about the new mutant strain. It is about how careful we are after the relaxation of lockdown. We have been on a roaming spree without social distancing and covid precautions.
We are on this end of the spectra and on the other end; there is Kumbh Mela which was believed to be an isolated religious sacrosanct and there are election rallies, whose funding was more important than improving medical facilities. Look at how we ridiculed ourselves.
Having said all this, wearing a mask isn’t a substitute for washing hands or following social distancing. I am mentioning it again, COVID-19 is a respiratory virus, and wearing a mask protects you from contacting and if you have tested positive prevents you from spreading the same. Helping you and helping the society as well. Now considering the sudden rise in the number of cases and deaths, I urge all of you to get vaccinated and stay at home, unless you have to go out for essentials and emergency.
Stay home stay safe
Also Read:
- Who can be a Plasma Donor? Why Plasma Donation Plays Important Role in Recovering COVID-19 Patients?
- List of COVID-19 Essential Resources in India
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