Prevention Over Cure: 5 Ways To Play Your Part To Say No To COVID-19
Prevention is better than cure. It is too bad that we are thinking of it now when there is a serious lack of resources to even allocate to even one sick person. As days and weeks pass by in the lockdown, you really cannot help but wonder how long this will last. How many days more until you see your friends and go back to your normal college life. On a more serious note, the nation is plunging into peril as the lockdown continues. The poor and needy are already running short of food and the times call for desperate measures. As the young generation, there is a lot you can do. Yes. Even by sitting at home. Read below to learn five ways in which you can play your part to fight COVID-19.
1. Avoid infodemic
‘Infodemic’ is quite a serious problem that is sadly ignored. Infodemic is the excessive attention given to information on one topic alone which in turn makes the solution even more difficult than it should be. Try to not get yourself entangled in news and updates about the epidemic constantly. Take conscious efforts to consume content that is not about the burning issue. While it is understandable that you want to stay updated on the statistics, this affects your brain adversely as your life is suddenly revolving around COVID-19 alone. Even humor based on the issue, like memes and videos affects you as your morale is compelled to stay low and your subconscious accepts this as your one and only reality. Focus on disease prevention if at all as you consume just enough information to stay aware and not overloaded by information on the disease. Therefore, along with practicing this yourself tell your parents and siblings to do the same.
2. Avoid spreading fake news
Fake news is a burning issue that gives rise to unnecessary panic. Panic benefits no one and hence makes the problem at hand worse than it already is. From your end, you can avoid forwarding messages, media (images, videos, documents, etc.) that claim to be ‘official information’ or show the tag forwarded on the top-left corner in case of Whatsapp or appear as posts or tweets on forums like Instagram and Twitter and are not on the official pages or profiles of government officials. Forwarding fake news is a common problem in family groups where the adults are fairly new to technology and send messages without verifying them first. As a teenager or young adult, you can make them aware of the signs of fake news. In some cases, wherein these signs are missing, you can just refrain yourself from sharing it with others until there is some concrete proof like print media or official pages of the newspapers online about the said fact.
3. Avoid going out for leisure
As young and healthy individuals who are used to staying out late or going out with friends, we understand the restlessness that is haunting you these days. Try to connect with friends through video calls or online games to keep in touch rather than venturing out into the presently explosive environment. You can take this as a time to make optimum use of the internet and explore new things you can try at home like dishes, hobbies, new reading lists, reading books online, taking courses online. Especially in the present scenario, universities and several bookstores have opened their resources to the public to reassert the Stay Home policy of the governments and make life at home as entertaining as possible. Therefore try to control yourself as much as possible from going out for leisure and convince your younger and older siblings to do the same.
4. Educate the elderly/illiterate
India is a land of skewed demographics especially when it comes to education and literacy. In these crucial times, you can use your education to tell the illiterate or elderly people at your home the steps to protect themselves from contracting the disease, simple steps to stay hygienic, etc and practice the same yourself. This way you can use your education to the benefit of others and yourself.
5. Maintain personal hygiene and renew yourself
Take care that you are extremely careful about your hygiene as your hygiene protects others as well. Another thing you can do during this lockdown is focusing on working on your weaknesses, addictions and trying to renew yourself. If you are addicted to eating from outside, smoking, drinking, driving carelessly, etc. this is a good time to work on making a new person out of yourself and look at this lockdown positively. Take up positive habits like Yoga, Zumba, dance sessions, meditation, reading, working out, etc.
Essentially, it is just a myth that you have to be physically out there to contribute to fighting the virus. You can do your part and still make a great difference by sitting at home. Your generation is a powerful one; full of untapped energy and ideas and whatever you do today is your world tomorrow. So make a wise choice.
