sanjay blogs

[! NO SPOILERS REVIEW ]
Imagine a month full of your favourite food, anything, the best of best. The magnificent platter of fruits and juices, crisp chickens dipped in mouth-watering sauce, the soul-enriching macaroni, the smoothness of creamy cake. You could have it all, as much as you want.

And the next month, you'll have almost nothing to eat. Even the leftovers are not there. All you get is empty plates with not even a thread of meat or a drop of juice. Your roaring hunger cannot be satisfied because there's no food. Will you survive? How will you cope? When hunger arises, and you have nothing to satisfy would you turn into a freaky maniac who could possibly turn into a cannibal?

    The movie 'Platform' shows exactly what people would do, if they were kept in such conditions.

    "The Platform" is an undeniably clever movie that leverages the power of metaphors to show how the current human society is. It displays the different class of people that they are divided with and their behaviors to others. It portrays the fundamentals of human behavior, and encodes subtle social messages along the way. It shows the tyranny of people with powers and displays how the same people would have different nature when they climb the different step of the human ladder.

    The entire movie takes place in a future-like building known as "The Hole". The Hole is a prison that runs deep with numbering, with each floor having two people each. The room is plain and simple with a small sink and toilet. Nothing more, nothing less. There's a large rectangular hole in the centre that runs through all the floor through which food is passed once a day. The entire movie starts here and ends here. It's the events that take place in the movie and circumstances that lead to one another that makes movie enthralling and engaging through the end.

    So, here's the deal. There are many floors on the building. On the Floor 0, the table is prepared for the greatest and best of food as you can imagine. Fresh and juicy fruits, tender and crispy chicken, juicy meat, fluffy cakes, raw and organic vegetables, mouth-watering deserts and so, you name it. But, as the food runs down, the people below get to eat only leftovers from the above. So, if the food finished on floor 50, the people below that will have nothing to eat. The food arrives once a day and you have to eat the leftovers from the people above in the allotted time and you can't keep any of it for later. If you keep away any bit of food, the temperature of the room will turn so hot that it'll roast you alive or it'll turn so cold that it'll freeze you to death. That's the deal.

    The social resemblance of this movie is those floors or levels as we can call them. It shows the people above have privileges and can choose what they want to eat. As the food delves into the lower level and food gets consumed, there are fewer choices. As the food travels deeper, the food is completely finished and there are hungry people who have nothing to eat.

Also from my blog : The Story behind Kevin Carter's famous photograph that took his life

    It also signifies that if people think about their actions and its effect to other people and help in mitigating them, the world would surely be a better place.

    It also signifies that if people were to think of their actions and how they may affect other people, they could come to a solution, that may solve many problems. That's one question the movie tries to answer with different levels.

    The people on the top(rich) take all they want, even which is not necessary to them and leave nothing for the people below(poor). This signifies the present context of today's society and the movie portrays it beautifully.

    Since I told you this was gonna be a spoiler-free movie, I don't want to get into the nitty-gritty details of the movie. If you're looking for something pulsating, dark and possibly some gore scenes, this movie is a perfect watch. One doesn't get a chance to see the nature of people changing and how a simple plate of food can make such a huge difference.

PS: The movie is available on Netflix.

And also BIG THANKS to Aryama Upadhyaya for reviewing this article before publishing.

Covid-19 Cases Updates

Confirmed Cases: 1,601,018
Confirmed Deaths: 95,718
Countries with cases:184

Confirmed recoveries: 354,972

Most no. of Deaths(by Country): Italy(18,279)

Spain(15,447),

France(12,210),

United Kingdom(7,978),

Iran(4,110), US New York(5,150),

China(3.215),

Confirmed cases by Countries:

US:465,750

Italy:143,626

Spain:153,222

Germany:118,235

France:118,783

Context of Nepal

Total people tested: 2,895
Total confirmed: 9
Total recovered: 1
Total Deaths : 0

Date updated :

8:59 AM

Friday, April 10, 2020 (GMT+5:45)

Time in Kathmandu

* The numbers are from John Hopkins University and Nepal Government.

ALERT ❗❗ Nepal Government has announced a complete lockdown. Stay home. Stay Safe.

It's now official. World Health Organization(WHO) declared that the new Corona Virus which had it's origin in Wuhan, China is now a global pandemic.

From an epidemic to the global pandemic, Corona Virus has spread a global wave of fear and has resulted in various countries striking a lockdown. Here today, we'll look at every aspect of the Virus - it's the origin, the global wave of its effect, it's impact on general people, social and economic hurdles, myths surrounding the virus, measures you can take to avoid and most importantly as an individual how you can help to fight against this global pandemic.

Sample image of Coronavirus : the pandemic

For people who are too busy or who do not have time to go through the whole of the article, I've created sub-sections of each topic I will be covering in the post so that it would be easier to find the relevant information.

Furthermore, I'd like to state that after much research and time, I was able to compile all the information that is listed in this page. At the end of the post, I will link each and every resource so that if you want to explore further into the topic you can do it easily.

1)What actually is Coronavirus?

2) Emergence of Coronavirus

3) How do these virus spread so fast?

4) Symptoms of COVID-19

5) COVID-19 Mythbusters

6) What you can do to prevent being infected

7) What are the potential dangers

8) Condition in Nepal

9) Timeline of data and important events of Covid-19

What actually is Coronavirus?

Corona Virus are a group of related viruses that causes many problems on different classes of animals and birds. These viruses may cause simple common cold problems in human and it may turn lethal into SARS, MERS or COVID-19.

So, what are SARS, MERS and COVID-19 Viruses? So, you're telling me that Coronavirus and COVID-19 are not the same? Let me explain.

Coronavirus are group of related viruses. So, it's like a type of family and the recent COVID-19 is a child of it. Not in the true sense, but Coronavirus is a family of viruses and COVID-19 is a disease caused by one of them.

Coronavirus is a large group of viruses with many different types of viruses which causes disease ranging from common-cold to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is a viral infectious disease caused by SARS-Coronavirus(SARS-CoV). Between 2002 and 2003 an outbreak of the SARS virus in China causes approximately 8098 people infected while killing 774 people. (Source: WHO)

Coronavirus epidemic(2019-) that is currently infecting the world is caused by SARS-2 (SARS-CoV-2019). This virus causes problems like cough, fever and shortness of breath. On a mild scale, it may lead to muscle pain, pneumonia and even organ failure.(on an extreme case).

So, how did Coronavirus emerge?

The first case of the Corona Virus was reported in Huanan Market in Wuhan, China. It is also reported that out of the first 41 patients 27 people visited this market.(0:41 at Vox ).

The SARS ( a type of coronavirus) also spread across China in a similar market in China in 2003. So, when there were multiple reports of people having dry cough, fever and in some cases pneumonia, China immediately shut down the Huanan Market.

The SARS-2 CoV virus that is causing the present epidemic is transferred from bats. However, research also suggests that it was not directly transferrable from bat to human. It is believed that te virus was not directly transferrable from Bat to Humans. A third party - a living host was a bridge between spreading the virus from a bat to human. A preliminary study suggest that it was transferred to human via an infected pangolin.

The process of how "Coronavirus" spread from bat to the humans. However, it is to be noted that this assumption is not proved.

In Huanan Market, LIVE animals are slaughtered and sold to the public for consumption. This market is fairly huge and it covers 50,000 m² and is reported to be second largest seafood market in China.

Although multiple sources claim that Coronavirus spread from here, there is no proof that clearly indicates that indeed the epicenter of the virus was Huanan Market.

So, how do these viruses spread so faster so quickly?

According to the research, the most common ways of spreading the virus from people to people is through the form of direct contact with the infected person. When an infected person coughs or sneezes, tiny droplets spread and people(healthy) who inhale these droplets gets infected with the virus.

Furthermore, the virus may also be transmitted via different mediums and objects when infected people touch objects. For ex: In a subway station, if an infected person cough and uses his hand to cover his/her mouth and uses the same hand to hold the pillar of the train to stand, other people, touching the same spot is prone to get infected.

Also, the virus may prevail in liquids that are inhuman, it is also equally possible that the virus may be transmitted via sexual intercourse. The virus may also share via saliva so it is equally important to know that any kind of sexual interaction with infected people may possibly spread the virus.(via The Guardian)

If you want to know more about this, you can read the full article here.

Does COVID-19 spread through the air ?

As far as the current research states, the primary way of the virus being spread from people to people are though the respiratory droplets.

Therefore it is extremely important to maintain a safe distance among people ( 1 meter or 3 feet in general) to not get exposed to the virus.

Does COVID-19 spread from the feces of an infected person?

The present research states that there is a low possibility of the virus being spread from the feces of infected human but it is more important to follow standard sanitation procedures for safety measures.

While initial research suggests that the virus may be present in the feces of humans, it is not the primary method of the exponential spread of the virus.

What are the symptoms of COVID-19?

The major symptoms of the Coronavirus are:

Fever (88% of cases)
Tiredness (38% of cases)
Dry Cough (68% of cases)

These three are the main symptoms that develop with COVID-19 patients after the infection. However, the other symptoms that are mild and develop gradually are :

Body aches and pain(15% of cases)
Nasal Congestion( 5% of cases)
Sore Throat (14% of cases)
Running nose
Diarrhea (4% of cases)
Breathing problem (19% of cases)

The data above is based on 55,924 confirmed lab cases Reported in China upto Feb22, 2020 and is derived from WHO.

Let's take a scenario and see how the disease and it's symptoms arises :

If you get infected by the virus, then the first symptom of the disease typically arises in 5-6 days. It means for 4-5 days you will have the virus in you and will not feel an inch of it creeping throughout the body.

The main reason that this virus is highly contagious is that it takes around 5-6 days to just appear symptoms and during this period, many more people may have already been infected.

What is the incubation period for the COVID-19 virus?

What is the incubation period ?

The term incubation period means the time between getting infected by the virus and developing symptoms of that disease.

According to the reports from WHO, the incubation period for COVID-19 ranges from 1-14 days, most commonly around 5-6 days.

COVID-19 Mythbusters

This section is entirely dedicated to seeing all the possible news circulating in the news and social media about the viruses. We'll have a look at the most interesting opinions and see if they are true or not.

COVID-19 can only be transmitted to cold-areas

From the evidence so far, COVID-19 can be transmitted to ALL AREAS. There is no evidence of the virus not being spread in hot areas. So, being naive and telling people that " I live in hot areas, Coronavirus will not come here" is not something that will benefit you and your family members.

If I take a hot bath, I will get no infection from COVID-19

Taking a hot bath and not taking other important preventive measures will not prevent you from catching the COVID-19 virus.

Coronavirus spreads via Mosquito bites

No. Until today there are no reported cases of people being infected of Coronavirus due to Mosquito bites. Since COVID-19 is a respiratory virus which spreads primarily through respiratory droplets, it is advised to take necessary precaution to prevent other diseases like Malaria as well.

Hand-dryers will kill all the virus in hand

Hand dryers are not effective in killing the virus. To get rid of it, you should wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. (we'll see later on why we have to use soap and water and why washing it more than 20 seconds is key to avoid contamination)

Spraying chlorine and alcohol all over your body will kill the virus

No. Spraying alcohol and chlorine all over your body will not kill viruses that have already entered your body. However, both chlorine and alcohol can be used to disinfect the objects and surfaces of your home. Under the controlled conditions, it can be used to clean the surfaces and objects in your home.

Vaccines of Pneumonia will protect me against Coronavirus

No. COVID-19 is a totally new type of virus and there is no vaccines especially for this disease. Vaccines such as pneumococcal vaccine and Haemophilus influenza type B (Hib) vaccine, do not provide any protection against the virus.

Although these vaccines are not effective against 2019-nCoV, vaccination against respiratory illnesses is highly recommended to protect your health. (WHO)

Regularly rinsing the nose with saline can prevent the new Coronavirus

No. Although the use of saline to rinse the nose can help people recover quickly from the common cold, it doesn't help in the case of Coronavirus.

Further study about this is yet to arrive but till now there is no supportive evidence that use of saline to regularly rinse your nose will kill the Coronavirus.

Eating Garlic will help prevent me from getting Coronavirus

Garlic have anti-microbial properties and may help you to make your health better. Unfortunately, it is not guaranteed that eating Garlic has prevented people from getting the virus. It may make you healthy and boost your immune system no doubt about that but completely preventing from getting infected by COVID-19 - NO.

Coronavirus only infects people of older age

This is not particularly true. Coronavirus infects people of all ages. However, the disease seems to be more vulnerable to older people and those people with existing medical conditions (heart disease, asthma, diabetes).

So, it is advised to people of all ages to follow proper instructions to remain healthy and protect yourself from the virus.

Taking anti-biotics will help cure Coronavirus, why is no-one talking about it ?

No. Antibiotics work against bacteria and does not work against coronavirus. Coronavirus is a virus not a bacteria and there are difference between bacteria and viruses.

Therefore, anti-bacterial medical supplies should not be used as a medication for COVID-19.

However, if you are infected by the COVID-19, you may receive antibiotics because the bacterial infection is possible.

Important things that we should be aware of

Are there any medicines that could help me cure COVID-19

Unfortunately NO. To date, there are no specific medications that can help cure COVID-19.

However, anyone infected with the virus should receive appropriate care to relieve and treat symptoms and those with severe conditions should receive optimized supportive care.

Is SARS same as COVID-19 ?

No. The virus that caused SARS in 2003 and killed 774 people and COVID-19 are not the same viruses. Although, these two viruses are related to each other genetically, the disease they cause are two different type of disease.

While SARS was more deadly, it was less infectious than Covid-19.

How long will the virus survive on surfaces ?

An exact study of how long the virus will survive is not yet published. However, as many other virus coronaviruses may also persist on surface for a few hours to few days.( conditions liks surface, temperature and humidity plays a major role).
It is advised to keep clean the surface and disinfect the possible surface with alcohol-based liquids or disinfectants. And most importantly, avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.

Should I use masks?

If you are not infected or are not looking after people who are infected, it is not necessary to use mask. Since disposable masks can only be used once, it is sensible to know when and where to wear the mask as there is a worldwide shortage of mask and WHO urges people to use masks wisely.

Furthermore, WHO also advises the rational use of medical mask and to make it available for people who actually need it.

If you are infected or you are taking care of an infected person, it is absolutely necessary to use the medical mask and dispose of it safely.

Here is WHO procedure on how to wear a mask :

How to put on, use, take off and dispose of a mask?

Remember, a mask should only be used by health workers, care takers, and individuals with respiratory symptoms, such as fever and cough.
Before touching the mask, clean hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water
Take the mask and inspect it for tears or holes.
Orient which side is the top side (where the metal strip is).
Ensure the proper side of the mask faces outwards (the coloured side).
Place the mask to your face. Pinch the metal strip or stiff edge of the mask so it moulds to the shape of your nose.
Pull down the mask’s bottom so it covers your mouth and your chin.
After use, take off the mask; remove the elastic loops from behind the ears while keeping the mask away from your face and clothes, to avoid touching potentially contaminated surfaces of the mask.
Discard the mask in a closed bin immediately after use.
Perform hand hygiene after touching or discarding the mask – Use alcohol-based hand rub or, if visibly soiled, wash your hands with soap and water.

So, what can I do to prevent from getting this virus?

These are the common guidelines and steps you need to follow to prevent from getting Coronavirus

Wash your hands regularly and thoroughly. Use soap and warm water or with an alcohol-based hand cleaner. Please be aware that while washing your hands, wash every part of your hands for at least 20 seconds. ( I mentioned why this was important earlier !) Here's why:

Maintain at least 1m (3 ft) distance between you and anyone who is sneezing or coughing. This is important because sneezing or coughing people may spray small droplets of liquid from their nose or mouth and it is the primary way of infecting people.

Avoid touching your nose, eyes, and mouth. Avoid it because if a virus is present in your hands, they may transfer to your mouth, eyes, and nose and then start spreading throughout your body.

Make sure that you and the people around you follow good respiratory hygiene. Cover your mouth and nose while sneezing or coughing.

Maintain Social-distance. If you are feeling ill, please stay home and take care of yourself. Take serious responsibility of the current situation and remain in self-isolation. The main reason why China was able to contain the virus is that they limited the social gatherings. Here's an important video from Vox that explains the concept in such an easy manner:

Avoid traveling to places and avoid social gatherings. Remain at home and drink enough water and take good foods. It is essential to make your immune system good for fighting this disease.

Should I worry about Covid-19 ?

The virus is spreading worldwide and many countries have already taken bold actions to further halt the spread of it. Although the disease is not dangerous, it may lead to dangerous consequences. As the report suggests: about 1 in every 5 people who catch it have to be hospitalized. So, if there are more people suffering, it means there are larger chances of it spreading even more and infecting more people along it's journey.

Most importantly however is that since infrastructures were not prepared for this epidemic, health care may be a serious issue and it may lead to many unfortunate events.

What are the potential dangers you should be aware of?

There are many dangers in this period of crisis and most obviously it stems from the stupidity of people. Here I'll share a few things you should keep in mind :

1) Be aware of people trying to scam you

Several people in India reported that some people came to their house disguising as "Cleaners" or "Workers" sent from the Government and request to inspect house and collect data or spray medicine or disinfectants. However, many of these people took valuable things and were part of gangs who looted home after home. So, please be careful to these kinds of people who try to talk to you into believing that they are agents from the government.

2) Email Scam

Criminals are disguising themselves as WHO to steal valuable information or sensitive data. So, if you are contacted by a person or organization that appears from WHO, please be sure to authenticate them before you respond to them.

Bear in mind that the World Health Organization will :

never ask for your username or password to access safety information

never email attachments you didn’t ask for

never ask you to visit a link outside of www.who.int

never charge money to apply for a job, register for a conference, or reserve a hotel

never conduct lotteries or offer prizes, grants, certificates or funding through email.

Also, there is only one fund WHO has issued for donation - WHO COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. Any other appeal for funding done by any kind of people or organization is a scam

At the same time, people are reporting of getting phishing emails from different sources. Please do not respond to these e-mail. These e-mail may have links or malicious attachments to them that ay steal you valuable information.

Any mail that is coming from other sources like '@who.com' , '@who.org', '@who-safety.org' is fake and a total scam. The only email that WHO uses to mail is '@who.int'. If there is anything other than 'who.int' after the '@' symbol, this sender is not from World Health Organization.

3) People spreading panic and fear

This step, among all I mentioned, is one you should be fully aware of is people spreading fear over social media and through direct communication. In this critical stage, many people have different opinions about the situation and you should be careful what you listen, analyze and held into your belief system.

Here are some fake news that are circulating in social media :

Image reads : Truly speechless by the image of Italy; Death of 627 people, we pray that this doesn't repeat in Nepal

This is not the image of people who died due to Coronavirus in Italy. This was an art project in 2014 to remember the victims of the Nazi's Katzback concentration camp in Frankfurt.

Here are other news that are trending in social media about the recent oubreak :

As Nepal Army confirmed that no such actions were being taken, these type of news that are spreading, especially through Facebook via local news pages (totally unreliable, fake and clickbaity) should be reported.

Here are some other news confirmed to be fake :

1) Dolphins are returning to Venice canals

Here's a tweet that went viral on Twitter which was posted by Kaveri Ganapathy Ahuja. It shares a piece of good information about how nature is resetting and has now reached a million likes.

Here's an unexpected side effect of the pandemic - the water's flowing through the canals of Venice is clear for the first time in forever. The fish are visible, the swans returned. pic.twitter.com/2egMGhJs7f
— Kaveri 🇮🇳 (@ikaveri) March 16, 2020

However, the photos and videos of Dolphins swimming around were filmed at a port in Sardinia, in the Mediterranean Sea, hundreds of miles away. Also, swans in the photo are nothing new to the area. Swans in the post regularly appear in the Canals of Burano.

Ahuja, who is a resident of Delhi says that she saw some photos on social media and decided to put them together to make a tweet, totally unaware that swans were regulars in Burano even before Coronavirus outbreak.

“The tweet was just about sharing something that brought me joy in these gloomy times,” she says. She never expected it to go viral, or to cause any harm. “I wish there was an edit option on Twitter just for moments like this,” Ahuja says.

Also, she doesn't plan to delete the tweet. She insists that the post is still relevant because the water in Venice is clearer than usual.

2) Elephants enjoying corn wine

This tweet which again was quick to get viral is not a legitimate photo of recent time.

While humans carry out social distancing, a group of 14 elephants broke into a village in Yunan province, looking for corn and other food. They ended up drinking 30kg of corn wine and got so drunk that they fell asleep in a nearby tea garden. 😂 pic.twitter.com/ykTCCLLCJu
— Corono she better don’t (@Spilling_The_T) March 18, 2020

Although the Elephants did recently come the Yunnan Province in China, it is nothing news. Elephants visited these places often and they did not drink corn wine and felt asleep in the tea-field.

3) Italian President crying due to situation in Italy

Once again, it's such an unfortunate to see these kind of post without any authenticate proof getting viral.

Here are the samples of news that was spreading in Social Media :

The man in this photo is not the president of Italy.

The man in the photo is the President of Brazil - Jair Bolsonaro. The above photo is from a speech Bolsonaro made on December 17, 2019 at a thanksgiving worship at the Palacio de Planalto. He got emotional started to cry when he was talking about his young daughter.

Here is the photo of current president of Italy - Sergio Mattarella.

Now, I am pretty much sure that the photo of current President of Italy does not matches the photo of the crying man in the image above.

Now, here's another post which is completely fake -

This image is just a couple kissing at Josep Tarradellas Barcelona–El Prat Airport at March 12, 2020. Emilio Moneratti is the original photographer of this photo.

Let's bust some other Fake News that is circulating in the Media

An Italian man committing suicide because his whole family dies

This photo where it describes that a man is taking his life because his family died is also fake news. The photo is of December 2019 and it is not of Italy.

The photo is of a man committing suicide in Valencia, Spain in December 2019 due to gender violence law.[maltida]

What is the condition in Nepal?

Here are all the events that were announced by Government or initiated by governing bodies for the preparation against Coronavirus :

Long-distance transportation halted [source]
All soldiers who were in Holiday are informed to return back [source]
All borders to both India and China sealed for seven days [source]
Isolation hospital wards ready in Butwal [source]
16 places established in Kathmandu valley where people can wash hands with soap and water [source]
Consult about Coronavirus directly to doctor [source]
Export of Hand Sanitizer and Maks prohibited [source]
Government has initiated to import 200 monitors and 100 ventilators from China and India [source]

In Nepal, you can consult about Coronavirus by calling the respective doctors listed below:

Images of these phone numbers were taken from Setopati

Tired of fake news ? #MeToo

Here are some legitimate websites from which you can view the latest information about the Coronavirus :

1) World Health Organization

2) FuseMachine has released a new website called "CovidNepal" where you can view the data related to Coronavirus in Nepal.

3) Official Site of Health Emergency Operation Center (HEOC)

In my view these are the sites from which relevant information regarding the Coronavirus outbreak can be viewed and studied.

Here's the timeline of Coronavirus disease

If you want to know more about how the disease spread and how it affected the world, I've compiled the entire timeline of the outbreak - from it's initial suspicion to current standings.

Dec 31 - Chinese authorities treated dozens of cases like pneumonia of unknown cause

Dec 31,2019 - China alerts WHO of a flu-like case in Wuhan

Jan 1 - Wuhan Market suspected as outbreak hub

Jan 3 - Passengers screened at Wuhan Airport

Jan 5 - WHO advises against travel restrictions

Jan 6 - SARS, MERS, bird flu ruled out

Jan 7 - New virus identified as coronavirus 2019n-CoV

Jan 8 - First suspected case of Coronavirus in Thailand (first reported cases outside China)

Jan 9 - Chinese Center for Disease Control and Precention(CDC) made genomce sequence of 2019-   nCOv available to the world

Jan 11 - China reports first death from Coronavirus

Jan 13 - First case outside China confirmed in Thailand

Jan 15 - First case of Coronavirus in Japan confirmed

Jan 17 - China reports second death from Coronavirus, US initiates screening of passengers arriving from Wuhan

Jan 20 - First case detected in South Korea
    : Third death due to coronavirus announced
    : Total of more than 300 cases reported in various cities of China
    : Chinese health experts confirmed that human-to-human transmission is affirmative

Jan 21 - US confirms it's first Coronavirus case
    Australia announces first case of Coronavirus

Jan 22 - WHO Officials met in geneva to discuss about the issue
    : Central China's Henan Province imposed ban on sale of LIVE poultry to prevent the virus
    : Virus has infected over 500 people and le to deaths of 17 people

Jan 23 - China implements travel bans

Jan 24 - China implements travel bans on more cities
    : China starts to build a temporary 1000-bed hospital in Wuhan's Caidian district
    : No. of confirmed cases increases to 830

Jan 25 - Hong Kong announces health emergency; Nepal, Cananda report first cases
    : Canada reports its "presumptive" coronavirus case of a 50-uear old man who returned from Wuhan
    : A Nepali student who returned from China is tested positive for the new coronavirus
    : Total confirmed cases touches 1320 globally and death toll rises to 41

Jan 26 - WHO changes the risk of virus to "high", Mexico confirms first case
    : US, France to evacuate nationals from Wuhan

Jan 27 - Sri-Lanks reports the first case of Cornavirus
    : Spain and Portugal also started to evacuate their nationals from Wuhan

Jan 28 - Japan, Taiwan and Germany report first domestic transmission
    : China reports 4,515 confirmed cases and 6,973 suspected cases with death toll rises to 107

Jan 30 - Russia closes 2,700 mile border with China
    : USA reports first domestic transmission
    : India and Philippines confirms their first case, Italy confirms two cases

Jan 31 - World Health Organization (WHO) declares global emergency
    : United Kingdom(UK) reports first case

Feb 1 - Spain and Sweden reported their first cases
    Chinese Health Authorities announced that 243 coronavirus patients had been discharged from hospitals by the end of Friday

Feb 2 - First coronavirus patient outside China dies in Philippines

Feb 3 - 1000 bed Huoshenshan hospital in China-ready
    : India reports total cases to 3 - all from the southern state of Kerala

Feb 7 - Chinese doctor Dr Li Wenliang who tried to tell people how serious this disease was died due to coronavirus while working at a hospital in Wuhan

Feb 8 - US and a Japanese citizen died due to Coronavirus in Wuhan

Feb 9 - Death toll passes 800 in China, overtake SARS

Feb 11 - WHO names new coronavirus disease as 'COVID-19'
    : Global case rise around 43,000

Feb 13 - Japan reports first Covid-19 death

Feb 15 - France reports first Covid-19 death
    : Egypt reports it's first coronavirus case

Feb 21 - Younh Chinese doctor Peng Yinhua aged 29 dies who worked a First People's Hospital in Wuhan

Feb 22 - Italy reported first death - a 78-year old man; total cases in Italy rise to 20

Feb 23 - Iran reported two more deaths - taking total death to 8. Total no. of reported cases in Iran reaches 43.

Feb 24 - Italy reported 7 deaths in total with 228 confirmed cases. The country halted public gatherings and suspended Venice Carnival.

Feb 25 - Iran's Deputy Health Minister tests positive for Coronavirus

Feb 28 - WHO raises global coronavirus outbreak risk to "Very High"

Feb 29 - the US reports it's first death from Coronavirus
    : Infected people in Italy increases, total confirmed cases reached 1,128 with 29 deaths.

Mar 2 - WHO staff tested positive for Coronavirus
Mar 3 - WHO states that Covid-19 mortality rate increased to 3.4 %
    : Spain confirms first death
    : Death toll reaches 3,100 with 2,943 confirmed deaths in China. More than 90,000 cases worldwide with 80,000 of them from mainland China

Mar 6 : Deaths in Italy rises to 197. Total cases in the country reached 4,636

Mar 7 - Iran's death tolls rise to 145. The total number of infected people are 5,823 approximately.

Mar 8 - Total cases in the US nears 550; Death in Italy rises to 366; Iran marks the highest single-day toll with 49 new coronavirus death
    : Italy to lock down it's northern parts

Mar 9 - Philippines declares health emergency
    Iran releases nearly 70,000 prisoners due to outbreak
    US death toll rises to 26
    Italy's death toll rises to 463 with 9,172 people infected. Recoveries increased to 724.
    Iran's death toll jumps to 237 while infecting 7,161 people.
    Italian PM imposes countrywide lockdown

Mar 10 - The death toll in Italy increases by 36%
    : Italian couple in India given anti-HIV drugs for the treatment
    : Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Wuhan

Mar 11 - WHO declares the outbreak to be Pandemic
    : US restricts bans from Europe
     : UK Health Minister Nadine Dorries tested positive for Coronavirus

Mar 12 - First death in India confirmed
    UK cases piles up at 590 with a total of 10 deaths
    Canadian Prime Minister's wife tested positive for Coronavirus
    Spain's Equality Minister Irene Monter tested positive for Coronavirus
         Armenia to replace paper-notes in an attempt to control the spread

Mar 13 - Italy death toll rises to 1,266 (an increase of 25% in the last 24 hours). Total number of infections rises to 17,660
    : India reports second death due to the coronavirus

Mar 14 - the US declares a national emergency, enabling $50bn in federal aid.
     : Australia bans public events

Mar 17 - Italy death toll reaches 2,503; total cases rise from 27,980 to 31,506
    : Two WHO staffs tested positive for Coronavirus
    : First Covid-19 vaccine trial begins in the US

Mar 18 - Portugal declared 15-days state of emergency

Mar 19 - Spain's death toll rises to 767.
     : Indian confirms it's fourth Covid-19 death - infected cases rise to 184; PM Narendra Modi calls for citizen curfew on 22 March
    : Wuhan and Hubei reports no new cases of Covid-19
    : Death toll rises to 8,800 while reported cases rise to 218,000 while recoveries stand at 84,000

Mar 20 - Total no. of deaths in the UK rises to 177; confirmed cases in the UK reaches 3983
    : Total no. of deaths in Germany rises to 31; confirmed cases in Germany reach 13,957.
    : Total no. of deaths in Spain crosses 1000; confirmed cases in the UK reaches 19,980
    : Total no. of deaths in Iran rises to 1,433; confirmed cases in the UK reaches nearly 20,000
    : Indian reports it's fifth death from the pandemic
    : No new cases in Wuhan for the second day straight
    : Death toll crosses 10,000 worldwide while total infected people rise to 244,000
    : Italy's death toll crosses China; the Death toll in Italy stands at 3,405 while China had 3,252.

Mar 21 - First death in Singapore, Israel
    : US Vice President's staff member testes positive
    : Death toll rises to 11,300. Worldwide recoveries exceded 88,200

The timeline and all the data is collected from Pharmaceutical-Technology

References :

Imagine living in a world where science fiction was unknown and fantasy didn’t even existed. Imagine living that life right now -right here- you cannot watch movies like Interstellar , books like “Harry Potter” didn’t existed, you cannot comfort yourself on weekend by watching animes like “Naruto” or “Death Note”. Imagine how miserable your life would be , without those movies and stories and novels and sketches that made your childhood lively and made you who you are today. Imagine those things never existed. Would you be the same you today as you are ? I highly doubt it. Some people dismiss science fiction or fantasy as nothing but a juvenile form of entertainment - precisely stated an easy way for escapism. At the first glance, it may sound totally true but as we calmly think and restate the statement - the conclusion that hovers around points to opposite direction.

Reality - as we perceive is a vague term. As philosophers have argued for millennials, the concept of reality can be broadly classified within two school of thought - Materialism and Idealism. As believer of materialism, the reality consists of matter and energy. All observable phenomenon, including mind and consciousness arise from material interaction. However, as per Idealism the most basic unit of reality is not material but conceptual. So, the real world consists of both of these terms and to live a realistic life, one has to master both of those curriculum. Those people who disregard fantasy as just a way to escape have never really tasted the sweet nectar of imagination. People who slander others as crazy for fantasizing, really are a larva in cocoon who are yet to turn into a beautiful butterfly. These people believe that imagination and form of imaginative artistry like fantasy and science fiction are time-wasters, they don’t solve real world problems. However, they solve many personal problems and that right there is a collective form of sociological development. As Gene Wolfe stated, “All fiction are fantasy. The fantasy genre is just more honest about it”.

One way or other, people find a way to escape from reality. World is quite a miserable place and it’s insane to be constantly surrounded by reality all the time. One of the most common ways people indulging in fantasy world is - Video Games .China, USA, Japan, France generate revenue of about 3500 million US Dollar each year by playing video games. Video game industry is expected to be worth 90 million billion US Dollars industry by 2020, from nearly 78.61 billion in 2017. Sales of fantasy book has doubled since 2010. As from a presentation given in May 2018 at Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America’s 52nd Annual Nebula Conference. The sales were recorded as sales in NPD Pubtrack, NPD Bookscan and Amazon e-Book sales. All these stats points towards something - people are actually finding an way to escape reality , whether it be books, novels, movies or Video Games. It’s not a trend, it’s a necessity in today’s world- to have a way to escape reality. Just think, your cousin who just went through a break-up in his relationship. He will certainly need extra care or love from his around ones. If that’s not possible, he will seek a way to numb his pain - through various ways. Among those different ways, Alcohol and excessive drug abuse always comes first. Just imagine, a man is destroying his life by being an abusive drinker. How wonderful would it be if he were to read a novel or watch a fantasy movie where he would see character of his own type winning over the world. Wouldn’t it make inspire him to be like his favorite character? Just imagine, you failed in your examination. Now let’s expect that you want to surround yourself with reality – do you listen to everything that’s “Real” ? The constant jokes of friends who poke you with your failures, your parents who are completely frustrated with your results, your relatives who think you’re a piece of wood. Are you able to live in peace with this real world ? I know people should thrive and improve but they should also seek instances of science-fiction and fantasy to transition into the state of well-being. Muriel Rukeyser poetizes the fact we all know, “The world is not made of atoms. It is made of the stories we tell about atoms.”

The best fantasy is written in the language of dreams. It is alive as dreams are alive, more real than real, for a moment at least. Fantasy elements always represent various aspects of real-life. They have deep embedded messages everywhere. If we study closely the elements of fantasy and science fiction - certain patters emerges. Almost all of the stories, books, novels, movies, animations have a relatable theme with charming settings. They all posses daring and desirable character whom people prefer and idolize too. Being a human, it’s human nature to be attractive towards good things. The fantasy stories reflect on the present human condition and their movement towards truth and reality and people have always loved them - simply because they reflect who they want to be in the future. They view the science fiction and fantasy as a way to represent and overcome our own personal fears, shortcomings and at times, need for escape. Within escapism, lies the elements of reality, self-improvement and deep-seeded truth.

Imagination, creativity are assets as long as you know it’s real. The total eradication of self and reality is not possible by mere imagination. Famous arts like “The Last Supper”, “The Girl with a Pearl Earring” have inspired millions of people around the world. Books like “Harry Potter” have taught people the importance of having a good friend. Animes like “Naruto” has spread the moral lesson that everyone has a story - they’re not who they are but it’s the consequence that made them so. Books like “The Alchemist” have inspired millions to follow their dream no matter what. Douglas Adam’s book “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” inspired young Elon Musk to strive for greater collective enlightenment – it was his inspiration to build SpaceX. As we see there are numerous examples of what fantasy and sci-fi has really contributed and continues to do so - it arouses hope in the world full of crisis, it helps people dream when reality squeezes them from all the sides. It acts as a thin string of hope that protects the whole of humanity.

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