23/04/2020
The Modern Black Death – COVID 19
A lot is written about COVID 19. We guarantee that you shall not find that rubbish here. Please read on.
The Black Death is the name for a terrible disease that spread throughout Europe from 1347 to 1350. There was no cure and it was highly contagious. It was carried by fleas that lived on rats. The plague may have started in Asia and traveled westward along the Silk Road – which was a trade route from China to Eastern Europe. It went along the northern borders of China, India, and Persia and ended up in Eastern Europe near today's Turkey and the Mediterranean Sea. This road was important as it helped to generate trade and commerce between a number of different kingdoms and empires. It was called the Silk Road because one of the major products traded was silk cloth from China. People throughout Asia and Europe prized Chinese silk for its softness and luxury. The Chinese sold silk for thousands of years and even the Romans called China the "land of silk".
Is it not reminding us of COVID 19? The novel corona virus originated in China and travelled via humans across the globe! Almost 675 years later, the Chinese repeated the same old trick – this time they changed the carrier. The moot question is ‘has China succeeded in establishing itself as un disputed king in trade and commerce?’
Historians think that black rats living on European merchant ships caught the disease, eventually bringing it to Europe. Nothing happened to China in those days…and even today! I hate to accuse someone without proof…and in history we find all proofs!
It is difficult to imagine how scary life was in the Middle Ages during the Black Death. By the time the disease ran its course, it had killed at least one third of the people in Europe. In Paris it's estimated that around 800 people died a day. There were so many dead that they couldn't bury them. They had to carry them to massive pits. The people didn't know that the disease was carried by rats. This made larger cities and towns, which were dirty during the Middle Ages, especially dangerous as there were lots of rats there. Sometimes entire towns or villages were wiped out by the plague.
Let us remove the difficulty in understanding through COVID 19. This is just the beginning of the virus. We have no idea of its end. In a mighty city like New York US this virus has killed around 2500 people in a day! Across the globe, it is killing over 5000 people daily. So many dead…the developed nation like US is unable to bury them…machines are carrying the deceased to massive pits. We also do not know anything about the decease. We have no medicine and no solution in sight…except lockdowns.
As you might expect, there was panic. Many people were sure it was the end of the world. People locked their doors and tried to hide in their houses. However, this did little good in cities where rats, and therefore fleas, were everywhere. They burned down houses and even entire villages to try and stop the spread of the disease.
There is panic in the world today. Though we credit ourselves scientifically advanced, many people are wondering if it were the end of the world. We are living locked in our houses and trying to hide in our houses from other people – termed is as ‘social distancing!!! The slogan for this modern world is – “United we fall; Divided we stand”!
Today we call this disease the bubonic plague. Very few people get the disease today and most of those that do recover. When people got the disease in the Middle Ages, they simply died. People would get sick with black and blue blotches all over their body.
Though WHO named this disease as COVID 19, there is no cure for this virus. There is no medicine. Our science and knowledge have no answers. It may take at least 2 to 5 years to find a cure to this virus.
Much of the infrastructure of Europe was wiped out when the Black Death finally subsided. It's estimated that it took around 150 years to rebuild Europe. In a span of 4 months the present day modern world has lost everything. Experts opine that this virus reversed our development by almost 100 years already. Shortage of food, unemployment, mutual mistrust, social distancing and other perils may kill more people today (as is being witnessed in Arica) than the Black Death of yesterday.
Amidst this global calamity some countries like South Korea think ‘democratic elections’ are important. The US is staring at its presidential elections in November 2020. Lives or Democracy? I shall elect democracy as we the human beings ceased being human. We can also observe yet another super fad i.e. the ‘democratically’ elected governments are helping one section of the people alone…the ‘poor’!! For example, when a 1000 people are being washed away in a flood, the government cannot say that it will save only the poor! Everyone needs help…not the ‘poor’ alone! We ceased being human!!!
Some Facts about the Black Death and COVID 19
1. Many people thought that the Black Death was punishment from God. All churches, mosques and temples say the same thing about COVID 19!!
2. It is estimated that somewhere between 75 million and 200 million people died of the plague. In so far as COVID 19 is concerned – it is too early to estimate. But the figures will be substantial.
3. The plague was not called the Black Death until many years later. Some think it was so called because of how the skin turned dark at the late stages of the disease, but it was more likely called "Black" to reflect the dark and horrible time in history. COVID 19 is reflecting another chapter of dark and horrible time in the modern history.
4. Some people thought that pockets of bad air released by earthquakes caused the plague. Others went so far as to blame Jewish people for bringing the plague to kill Christians. Some of the COVID 19 experts say that due to the melting of Antarctic ice (global warming), the ancient frozen germs are returning to life to cause this disaster.
It is futile to say / wish, due to the afore stated reasons, “Stay at home and Stay safe”! Governments are impotent. They cannot help all; they only help the poor! Hence, I wish you your share of good luck, if any. Please do remember it is not the doctors/ nurses / health workers / police who are risking lives…it is we who are risking our lives while staying in solitary confinement with closed doors and hardly breathing waiting for the unseen powerful enemy to pounce on us any moment. If we survive this pandemic i.e., next 3 to 5 years, we shall live to celebrate; otherwise…its Sayonara!
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