Everyone I read on twitter or people who I chat with or speak to, are affected by some form of a national lockdown. The novel coronavirus, COVID-19, is impacting 199 countries and 680 thousand infected cases have been confirmed globally. And in a globally connected world, even if right now, your country has few cases, then I am guessing you are still panicking because your country hasn't taken swift action.
The crisis is painful, to say the least. While chances of being severely impacted or dying from it, in case you are infected, are low, the problem is that the very best of countries did not act in time and the health systems in most countries fell flat in the face of this crisis. If public healthcare has not been brought to its knees as of now, most likely it will be.
India is also one of those countries that has enforced a lockdown. When one is dealing with a country with a population of 1.2 billion, problems are bound to arise. Despite the size and large population, India did manage to take timely actions to tackle spread of COVID-19, and also implemented a lockdown early on, when I think the number of confirmed cases was 571. While the authorities would have planned for most things, they probably did not plan for what started happening day before and exploded yesterday. Have a look at the pic below, from yesterday -
Day before, migrant workers, who travel to large Indian cities such as Mumbai and Delhi, from their hometowns and villages from all over India decided to go back home. Problem was, the country was under lockdown and there was no public transport. These workers decided to walk back home, some 400 km, some even more.
When I saw this, I was shocked! I was saddened. In fact there were a lot of emotions. I started looking at news channels to learn more, hoping that there would soon be some form of announcement from the government to help them travel back home. After all, the government's announcement of the lockdown was abrupt and surely, the government had failed to think about this scenario. I do not blame the government for that. It is difficult to prepare for mass exodus of people from large cities.
Whoever I have been speaking to has been feeling anxious. I have been telling most people that when we work, we pray for 2 to 3 weeks off from work to just sit at home and binge watch movies. Now, the government has forced us to go on a paid holiday. Yes, there are some limitations. However, I do not think the situation is really that bad. The anxiety can be from not knowing how long a lockdown can last. However, most worries and anxieties seem like tantrums when one sees what these blue collar workers in India are going through.
Most workers will walk home with kids, some as young as 1 yr. Their reasons to leave are understandable. They survive most days and feed their family through daily wages they earn. With no daily wage, survival is impossible. So they have to get home. Some are walking alone so that can be with their family - wife, kids and parents. At least in their villages, they can get food and survive this lockdown. They will have a proper home. In metros, their living conditions are terrible.
Delhi and Uttar Pradesh state government did arrange for a 1000 buses for these people but 1000 buses can at best take 100 thousand people. I went out to get groceries today, and I saw at least 500 people who have started their journey today. And this will continue, for may be another 10 days. 1000 buses will fall short. There have already been 4 confirmed deaths from this chaos. It is just that malnutrition and heatstroke does not spread through coughing, so may be the govt thinks it can be slow to act.
There are insensitive news media and people who are questioning these people and how their action is defeating the purpose of lockdown. All I can say to them is - FUCK OFF!
The reason why I am talking about these folks is that the world needs to know about them. Most privileged fucks have enough money to survive this. Yes, many will go through a hard time but no one like these people, or let me say, most won't. There is enough being done to save Hedge funds, banks, big companies but no one is able to plan proper transport for these people or even ensure they can survive the lockdown wherever they were. Also, compare your situation to that of these blue collar workers and feel grateful about your situation.
In the end, I would like to salute this guy, and countless others like him -
These guys are coming out to feed people waiting for buses. The govt needs to fucking step in. Just collecting money is not enough. There is a genuine problem that has now existed for 3rd day running. Do something about it, please!