DailyOh! How recovered Covid-19 patients could cure those suffering, to can Krakatau trigger another tsunami?
Borish Johsnson is recovering and that’s not the only sort-of-good news.
Hey there,
So, today being Monday, some people returned to office. Yes, we know those working from home also returned to work, but what we mean is some actually travelled to offices. We are talking about Union ministers. They will be working from their offices and homes today onwards. All ministries have been asked to work on plans to revive businesses so that some economic activities can be restarted. They are also working on plans to control the spread of Covid-19. Talking of the spread, over 9,000 people in the country have tested positive for the virus so far and more than 300 have died.
Now, before you drop your shoulders reading those figures, do know that of the 9,000-plus people who have tested positive, over 1,000 have recovered. Recovery from Covid-19 is slow and follows the rise in cases with a gap of 14 days. That is why we say a huge gap between the number of people who are tested positive and the number of those who recover.
Talking of recovering, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is making a recovery and over the weekend, he was discharged from the hospital. No, he won’t immediately resume work because, as per doctors, rest is best for the PM right now. Is this the only silver lining in these gloomy times? No, we got you more. Actually, scientists create news. We just bring it you. So in what is sort-of-good news, it has been found that those who have recovered from Covid-19 can help cure others. How? We will answer that.
Three Indian-Americans were admitted to a hospital in the American city of Houston after they tested positive for the virus. Though the virus is new, doctors are trying old techniques to treat patients. You never know what may work. So, in Houston, the doctors treating the Indian-Americans by infusing the blood plasma from recovered patients into the sick ones. And guess what? They are recovering. So, did it work? The technique used in the treatment is called Convalescent Plasma therapy. The blood plasma of a recovered person carries the antibodies to fight this coronavirus.
So, when an ill person receives the plasma with the antibodies to fight coronavirus, this recipient recovers as well. You do know that antibodies are proteins in blood that fight specific bacteria and viruses. Even people who do not have science backgrounds are on the verge of becoming scientists with this 24*7 reading and researching about the virus.
Now, nobody becomes a scientist like that, but, we say, it is still good to be reading and digging out more information about the virus unless your primary source of research is WhatsApp. Do not share any such ‘knowledge’ through forwards. Don’t even keep it to yourself. Be responsible. Be sensible. What you should not be is a Covidiot.
Let us introduce you to our Covidiot(s) Of The Day. We got you not one but 10. All 10 are foreign nationals and were caught strolling around the banks of the Ganga in Rishikesh. Now, fresh air is good and we are all hankering for some, but coronavirus-infected air could invite a trip to the hospital. The virus, it has been found, can travel up to 13 feet (four metres) in air.
Uttarakhand: 10 foreign nationals who were caught strolling along the bank of river Ganga in Rishikesh were made to write "I didn't follow lockdown rules, I am sorry', for 500 times as a punishment for violating #CoronavirusLockdown. (12-4-2020) pic.twitter.com/vd3BJeoHm0
— ANI (@ANI) April 12, 2020
The policemen, who caught these Covidiots, sent them back to school. Not literally though. The errants were made to write, "I didn't follow lockdown rules, I am sorry,” 500 times. Whether, they genuinely felt sorry or not, we do not know. But we are sure they would not go take a stroll again for fresh air, if not for the virus, for the Uttarakhand Police. We wonder where the police arranged the pen and paper from. Looks like a pre-planned punishment. If Doordarshan is taking us back to childhood, why can't the cops? This punishment has our thumbs up.
And there is something else too that has our thumbs up. We say, this is highly recommended for you. The internationally acclaimed music group, Dhoad, has composed a song on corona that we say you must listen to. Dhoad is basically a music group from Rajasthan. Members of the group got stuck in France after a lockdown was announced. Listen to them trying to croon away the coronavirus. Whether this can convince the virus to leave or not, we do not know, but it will certainly dispel the lockdown blues.
'Corona jaao ji, na aao mhare desh'!#Rajasthan's internationally acclaimed music group,Dhoad, currently stuck in #France due to #lockdown in that country, sings the #Corona song. #UserGeneratedContent #Covid_19 (@AnkurWadhawan)More videos https://t.co/FAHzdk9TO8 pic.twitter.com/cCEyZSrdaq
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) April 13, 2020
But the song left us wondering which country are the group members referring to when they sing, 'Corona jaao ji, na aao mhare desh' – France or India? Kidding. We are sure they mean the entire world. We, meanwhile, hope the group’s members remain safe and return to the country soon.
Over the weekend, however, some very disturbing visuals emerged in India. To be specific, the visuals came from Punjab. You may have guessed by now, we are talking about the attack on a police contingent trying to ensure that lockdown measures are being followed.
In case you missed the incident, do watch this before we tell you what happened and who the attackers were. (Caution: The footage is disturbing and we advise viewer discretion.)
Barbaric. The moment few sick beasts attacked Punjab Police in Patiala and cut off left hand of an ASI Harjeet Singh after breaking Police barricades in lockdown. Attackers fled from the spot and are hiding in Gurudwara. Efforts are on to arrest. This is ATTEMPT TO MURDER 4 cops. pic.twitter.com/Wtt6QfnBD0
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) April 12, 2020
The brutes chopped off the left hand of assistant sub-inspector Harjeet Singh with a sword. It took a seven-hour surgery for doctors to re-attach Singh’s chopped hand. The men behind the attack, caught in front of the camera, were Nihangs. Never heard of Nihangs before the attack? We will tell you who they are.
The Nihangs are also known as Laadli Fauj of the Guru. These men are generally dressed in blue because the attire was given to them by Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh Guru. It was Guru Hargobind, the sixth guru, who constituted a special army comprising the Nihangs.
They were made part of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s battalion because of their fighting power. Now, a lot of water has flown in the Sutlej since then but the Nihangs are caught in a time warp. Nihangs were the original followers of Akal, the Sikh temporal seat. They used to run the Akal Takht before the Akali Dal took over in 1925. The Nihangs have many gurdwaras across Punjab and mostly live on vast jagirs of these gurdwaras. So, after the assault on the police officials, the Nihangs took shelter in a gurdwara only. Seven, including the five attackers, were arrested just hours later, following an exchange of fire.
Wondering why the Nihangs attacked the police? Well, because they do not like to follow orders. Nihangs do not like to follow any orders because they consider it to be an attack on their sovereignty. Living under stones, the men do not seem to know that coronavirus understands no sovereignty. It has entered nations and humans in full disregard for sovereignty and privacy. The sooner the Nihangs realise it, the better.
But we would like to take you away from coronavirus news for a bit. We will like to take you to the US. Yes, US is the worst hit by the coronavirus, but let’s not talk about that for now. We want to tell you about Joe Biden today. The man, who is likely to be the Democratic Presidential nominee in the US elections, has been accused of sexual assault during the 1990s by a former staffer.
Tara Reade alleged that the assault occurred in the basement of a Capitol Hill office building in the spring of 1993. You can read the details of the development here.
Somehow the allegations against Biden reminded us of John Kennedy. No, he wasn’t accused of any such offence but he was rumoured to have been in a relationship with Marilyn Monroe, the actor, singer and model.
You know there was this incident that convinced everyone of the affair in 1962. On May 19, 1962, at a fundraiser and early birthday celebration for President Kennedy, Monroe took to the Madison Square Garden stage and crooned, "Happy Birthday, Mr President... Happy Birthday to you." The sexy performance convinced everyone that two were indeed having ‘a little thing on’ between them. It looks like when we want to believe something, we would believe any sign that comes our way. Here’s the video for you to decide for yourself.
From the US, let’s head to Indonesia now. Since, we cannot really head anywhere physically, we would just head to places in our heads – for now.
So, in Indonesia a volcano has erupted. You may say volcanoes keep erupting in Indonesia. Well, yes. But the volcano, Anak Krakatau, which erupted, is the same one that killed 430 people after its eruption caused a tsunami along the coasts of Sumatra and Java.
Is there a reason to worry? Not really. When the volcano erupted in 2018, the impact was so huge that it ended up devastating more than half the volcano itself. And that is why, it is now no longer in a position to cause any tsunami-like situation. We, however, hope those living in its vicinity are safe.
These are difficult times for the world. Any tsunami can wreck double the havoc. Now don’t get over-thinking about it. Sing Que Sera Sera (Whatever will be, will be) and stay positive. Not corona-positive. Just positive in life.
Have you wondered why are we asked to stay positive and we ask others to stay positive during times? What does the word mean, where does it come from? Let us help you figure out. Positive is Our Word Of The Day.
To begin with, positive was only a legal term and meant ‘formally laid down’ because it originated from Old French ‘positif’ which meant ‘settled by agreement, positive’. Over time it came to acquire a new meaning: it came to imply ‘effective or useful’. In medical terminology, tests are positive when one certain element that doctors are looking for is found. Like a positive pregnancy test. While that is good news, testing positive for coronavirus is not.
In the worst case scenario, if one tested positive for coronavirus, do know it is perfectly curable. So stay positive and sing:
We will leave you with that for now.
Meet you tomorrow.
Take care. Stay safe.