PATNA: The second wave of Covid pandemic has created a fear psychosis among the common people in general and the elderly in particular. Negative projections about the pandemic have depleted their morale and confidence considerably, creating a sense of despair and gloom.
When some senior citizens of the city were contacted by this newspaper to gather their feelings about the current situation in the wake of the recent spike in Covid cases, they appeared tense and fearful. Reports of people being infected with the virus even after taking both the doses of vaccine have been dampening their spirit and lust for life.
Magadh University retired Hindi teacher Satyadeo Narain Sharma (87) said the second wave is more virulent and dangerous than the first one and even those who do not venture out of their house are being infected.
“Unprecedented rush at all the government and private testing laboratories and growing scarcity of beds in hospitals and
oxygen cylinders have made the people all the more apprehensive. Even if people get common cold and cough, they become apprehensive of Covid-19 infection and want to get them tested for the virus. But, they have to stand in long queue for hours and days for getting their samples collected at the testing lab and have to wait for several days to get their test results. All this creates greater rush at all the labs and increases the risk of getting infected too,” Sharma said.
Patna University (PU) English department’s former head Shiv Jatan Thakur said the elderly are more prone to anxiety due to reduced self-confidence, decreased activity and mobility, losing friends and reduced physical and financial independence. And, the various types of news relating to the pandemic have only been aggravating their problems. The fact remains that barely 3% death rate is recorded in the second wave of the pandemic with the total cases of 2.30 lakh people getting infected.
Thakur said the months of March and April are notorious for common cold and allergic reactions exactly, similar to those of Covid-19 which cause panic among the people. Instead of measuring their oxygen saturation level with a portable oximeter at home, they unnecessarily rush to private clinics and government hospitals for getting them tested for the virus’ infection. He said people should not worry for the disease, rather they must take all necessary precautions to remain safe and healthy.
B N College’s retired history teacher N K Sinha said high prevalence of anxiety among the elderly is due to the fact that they suffer from many physical problems, chronic diseases, movement disorders, physical disabilities, and dependence on others. Retirement and the ensuing loneliness also contribute to their anxiety. Recently, they have got more panicky with the reports of delay in the RT-PCR reports, scarcity of beds and testing kits and acute shortage of oxygen and Remdesivir in the city, he said.
Patna College’s former principal Nawal Kishore Chaudhary said the chances of people getting infected with the Covid-19 virus have increased multiple times in the new wave of the pandemic and the fatality rate has also increased. “Lack of essential facilities and medicare at the hospitals have shaken the confidence of the common men who are gradually getting disheartened.
However, Chaudhary said people need to be too optimistic. Like so many crises of the past, the present crisis would also be over sooner or later. “There is always a light at the end of a tunnel,” he added.