COVID-19 – A Layman’s Guide for the Indian Middle Class

–by Suresh Iyer

–Reading Time – 21 min Approx

There has been a bombardment of posts and videos all over since the second wave of Covid 19 in India.  This is an attempt to shed light on what a common middle class man can do in prevention and treatment of Covid.  I am no expert on this subject but sometimes experience can be the best teacher.  Being in a frontline service, I have been working daily since the pandemic and have been traveling daily due to work compulsions.

 What is this Covid 19 virus:

As we have read and its well-known now that Covid virus droplets drop approximately from an infected person within 6 feet and spreads when its spike protein comes in contact with our receptors and goes inside our lungs. Its entry point is through eyes, mouth or nose.  It matches our DNA and utilizes our own body functions to reproduce itself.

So, a single covid virus can replicate itself to produce thousands and thousands of virus and infect the lungs and thus our body.

When a covid virus enters our bodily system through the receptors, our immune system starts attacking it for defending our body.  This causes fever or various symptoms.  As covid starts growing, our body starts producing antibodies.  An ordinarily young and healthy person with no comorbidity condition (BP or sugar) can easily produce antibodies and deal with this Covid virus.  In a 17-day cycle, he can get rid of this Covid virus easily.  However, he can be a carrier of this virus and pose a danger to the less unfortunate ones who do not possess such immunity.  Hence, it is advised that every person should wear a mask not only to protect himself but also to ensure that he does not pass the virus on to others.

Fortunately, we have vaccines which assist in preparing these antibodies.  Fever is caused when body produces antibodies as soon as we get vaccinated.  That can be tackled by a simple paracetamol. Problem is we take covid lightly but many believe in rumours that speak of ill effects of vaccine.  Hence, it is really important to wait for our turn and vaccinate ourselves at the earliest available opportunity.  Even after vaccination, we need to observe all precautions as it will take close to a year for the entire country to be vaccinated.

Why Covid 19 virus became more worrisome in 2021 compared to 2020 ?

Last year when we came to know about this Covid 19 virus, we were deadly scared.  We all blamed China for this deadly virus and came to know of various things which we are quite used to now like lockdown, social distancing, masks, hand sanitizers, PPE Kit etc.  Daily we got to know the rising Covid numbers.  Then we slowly began seeing light at the end of the tunnel.  Vaccines were being made as answer to this deadly virus.  Slowly life started opening up and we began to enjoy the world and called it as “New Normal”.

2020 appeared to be a blot in our lives.  2021 was going to be something different with vaccines all over the place.  We forgot our discipline, masks were worn like a fashion statement down our chin and we began partying hard.

Slowly by March 2021 things went to rewind mode.  At least in 2020, we happened to read about Covid in newspapers and social media. But in 2021, Covid 19 reached our doorstep and started affecting our near and dear ones and even news of untimely death of near ones started shocking us.

This has forced us to recall the precautionary measures that we very well know but not follow rigorously.

1. Wear a Proper Mask, preferably a N95 mask.  I prefer wearing a double mask.  A cloth mask over a surgical mask. Buy a daily disposable surgical mask and put on a cloth mask over it.  It is worth spending Rs.500/- to Rs.1000/- on such preventive things.  It is a long-term investment for our health.  We spend anyway mindlessly on unnecessary consumables.
2. Wash hands with soap or hand wash thoroughly before touching your face, especially when you come from outside.
3. When outside, it is always advisable to carry a pocket sanitizer with us.  Whenever we feel the need to touch our face, we can clean the hands using sanitizer and do so.  It’s time we make it a habit.  Hand sanitizer destroys the covid virus very effectively.
4. Maintain social distancing.  Though this is practically difficult when we travel for office work or for our regular purchases, we can opt to go through places where we find lesser crowd.  A little bit of judgment and smartness and proper chalking out our travel needs through proper planning will effectively help achieve social distancing.
5. If we have fever, cough, loss of smell or difficulty breathing, we must not hesitate to seek medical attention.
6. Maintain clean environment with nutritious home-made food.
7. We can keep away from vices like smoking and drinking.  For regular smokers and drinkers, they can utilize this time to slowly give off their habits.
8. Keep house and office space vell ventilated and avoid air conditioning.
9. We must stay home and self-isolate ourselves if we feel unwell.

Challenges faced by middle class families in home isolation during Covid 19

While everyone talks about self-isolation, it is actually the biggest challenge facing middle class families who often live in small flats with single washrooms.  My wife was infected with Covid 19 recently and we live in a typical small Mumbai flat. It becomes even more difficult when ladies get unwell in houses with young children and elderly people.  Ladies are the ones who effectively run the household.  Often worried about their daily cooking and chores, they ignore their health.  There is a need for letting young children know of their responsibilities and inculcate good habits in them.  Elderly people in house are also like young children and get adamant.  It is the duty of any one responsible member of the family to make everyone understand with large doses of humour.  It’s like being a captain of the team who should boost the morale of his entire family who might get depressed as they almost remain within four walls and bombarded with negative messages regarding the Pandemic.

Everyone talks about self-isolation but no one actually guides us about how to go with it. In small houses, identify any corner of the house and keep the set of things normally used by the infected person.  Keep a set of plates and utensils separately for him or her.  They can be washed, cleaned and reused again. Not every house will have two washrooms.  So just keep the washrooms clean and wear masks while at home when we live along with an infected person and still trying to make distance with him or her. The initial two to three days will be difficult to adjust, but make it a routine.  It is very important to make everyone in the family understand that whatever is being done is for the benefit of the infected person as well as for the entire family.  Young children learn fast and we often underestimate their level of understanding.  There will be a set of neighbours who may look down upon us if any family member gets infected but ignore them.

Keep a set of utensils preferably plastic. Covid is all around. What if your neighbouring house is affected?  A cup of tea and breakfast can really lift their morale and help soothe the gloomy environment around us.

Covid-19 Treatment

The biggest challenge during home isolation is monitoring our health.  For those with normal BP and sugar, it is not that big a challenge but for those with pressure and sugar problems, it is better to get devices at home to monitor ourselves.

Do know about the Ct value in RTPCR.  Lesser the Ct value, more is the Covid infection though it does not necessarily affect severity.  If your Ct value as per RTPCR is above 25, you need not be concerned much but still maintain self-isolation and take care of yourselves by intake of vitamins as prescribed by the Doctor.

Another useful thing that everyone is prescribed to use is Oxymeter.  As long as our sp02 is more than 94 and pulse rate should be 60 to 90, there is not much cause for worry.  We should be in constant tele consultation with Doctor and follow his advice.  There are lots of booklets available through Whatsapp and off the counter medicines suggested by near and dear ones, but nothing should be taken without advice of a Doctor.  Intake of vitamin C with zinc helps boost our immunity.  Intake of boiled eggs, hot milk and fruits will aid our health.  We should take plenty of water and keep ourselves hydrated.

Apart from these, we should consult our Doctor and get the following basic tests done

1. Blood Test – C-reactive protein test, D-dimer test and blood sugar test
2. HRCT Scan

These two tests are important as outwardly the patient may seem healthy but it is always better to check the severity of infection and how much has it affected our lungs.

People usually do mistake by indulging in two extremes.

1. Taking the infection lightly and intake off the counter vitamins and antibiotics.
2. Reacting hyper and rushing to hospitals.  Hospital admission is for those patients who are severely affected and really in need of round the clock medical attention.

90% of Covid infections are usually treatable while remaining in home isolation and only requires patience, discipline and care.  The pathetic condition faced by the hospitals today is because those who can get treated at home are occupying hospital beds whereas those who are in want of intensive treatment are gasping for breath outside hospitals.  Each case is different, so we need not react to the news of death, oxygen and Remdesivir shortage floating around in social media creating panic.  Many do not know that Remdesivir is not at all a definitive treatment for Covid and mostly Covid patients do not require oxygen support at all.  It is always better not just to isolate ourselves from others but also isolate our minds from all trash and stick to the advice of our Doctor and do things one at a time.

What can those who are not affected by Covid-19 do in such situation?

1. Be responsible while stepping out and wear preferably a double mask. Covid mostly transmits through person to person and less through surfaces.  So, they should avoid crowded places.
2. Taking steam, hot water, turmeric milk and ayurvedic medicines are fine.  But these are all preventive measures.  We should not be under the impression that doing these prevents infections. They only boost immunity and improve our lifestyle and should be used as a long-lasting habit irrespective of the Pandemic.
3. We should plan and chalk our essential purchases and get out from home only once in a day for shopping.
4. Know about the vaccination schedule of the Government and choose an appropriate time to vaccinate yourself and family members.
5. Avoiding marriages, ceremonies and religious functions.  This is the most difficult part.  Our close relative may invite us for a marriage ceremony.  It is up to them to conduct marriages at this unearthly hour.  Let others go but we can always find a way out to avoid such functions.  We need not be so touchy about our religious customs and traditions.  It’s a long life and such occasions will continue to happen again in our lives.  We can avoid going to places of worship.  Our home is the ultimate place of worship and our family members are the closest children of God.  Thankfully with digital devices around us, we can keep in touch with relatives and friends virtually.  Happiness is not a destination; it is a journey.  So, make sure, you have the best co-travellers.
6. Government will hold elections and political parties will hold election rallies for their political benefits.  We must avoid political gatherings and go out to vote carefully in case of elections.

Always remember, God helps those who help themselves.

What despite all this, things go wrong?

What is life without uncertainty?

We are advised to walk on footpath. But any rash driver can still ram his vehicle into the footpath.  Responsible drivers are advised to drive within lanes but he cannot stop any other driver from crossing lanes and coming his way.  Does it mean that there is no use following traffic rules?

Same is with following a set routine of healthy lifestyle.  It will give us boundless joy and make others happy around us.

–by Suresh Iyer