Four years ago, on a warm March evening, India went through an unprecedented nationwide health-related “lockdown,” which restricted public movements for an extended period of time in order to allay initial fears related to the Covid-19 outbreak.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) formally declared the Covid-19 virus to be a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, effectively severing people and nations from one another as they realised the potential consequences of the deadly virus, which was said to have started in China the year before.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the countrywide lockdown two weeks later on March 24, 2020, making it one of the first in the history of the international community of nations.
Shuddering indoors for months, people barricaded themselves in their homes, villages, towns, cities, districts, states, and even the entire nation.
Today, the Covid-19 pandemic has lasted four years, leaving a troubling legacy for both India and the rest of the world.
According to the Covid-19 tracker Worldometer, there were 4,50,33,332 cases reported in India. which, astonishingly, 533,535 proved to be fatal.
With an astounding 11,17,27,592 illnesses and the highest number of deaths (12,18,464)—more than twice that of India—the US led the world.
A total of 70,43,18,936 infections and 70,07,114 deaths worldwide have been attributed to the invisible virus.
On the other hand, out of the 229 nations that Worldometer tracks, the Western Sahara (West Africa) has the lowest rate of Covid-19 infections and deaths per 100,000 people, making it the second most sparsely populated nation globally.
It was preceded by Tokelau (80), in the sub-100 category, and Vatican City (the residence of the Pope), which had 29 afflictions.
Niue (1,059 cases, near New Zealand), Montserrat (1,403 cases and 8 deaths, in the Caribbean Isles, a British Overseas Territory), and Falkland Islands (1,930 cases, another British Overseas Territory and the catalyst for the 1982 Falklands War between Argentina and the UK) were among the more than a thousand cases that were recorded.
A few historic events occurred while the world was still reeling from the effects of COVID-19. For example, the yearly Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia, which is attended by over two million Muslims annually, was postponed that year.
A sombre At a sodden but eerily empty St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, Pope Francis bestowed a unique blessing upon the world, but more than 11 million people in Italy and throughout Europe watched it live.
Nearby in Mumbai, for the first time in its nearly 250-year history, the famous Mohammed Ali Road Ramadan street food bazaar was closed for the entire month.
Many people experienced mental and psychological suffering as a result of the limitations on their freedom of movement or their limited opportunities to interact with other humans, and as the lockdown—which began with the first 21-day installment and continued in batches for about two years—restrictions were gradually loosened.
A new world order emerged as a result of the pandemic and the ensuing paranoia on a number of fronts, including local and international air travel, health care programmes, online learning replacing classroom instruction, workplaces transitioning to work-from-home arrangements, holidays becoming “at-home” occasions, online shopping largely replacing brick-and-mortar shopping, doorstep delivery of everything in the markets, virtual “darshan” in place of temple visits, online Sunday masses or Friday “namaz,” etc.
