COVID-19: Can you please just shut your mouth?

I woke up to this message forwarded on WhatsApp: “If you can hold your breath for 10 seconds, without coughing or difficulty in breathing it indicates the absence of COVID-19 infection.”

I freshened up and walked into the kitchen to see my mom preparing a concoction with turmeric and ginger. A family friend of ours was advising my parents on the phone, “Ginger is the miracle for coronavirus. The heat that this will produce will kill coronavirus without the need for a vaccine.”

Then there was a message claiming that NASA satellite videos have shown coronavirus retreating in India, thanks to the “cosmic level sound waves created when Indians followed the Prime Minister’s message and clapped during Janata Curfew in March.

Reports even suggested that Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan shared this on social media and was trolled.

I agree there is an element of fear and uncertainty that is making us all anxious and that there is a lot to handle – from maintaining a robust healthcare system to fighting the stigma attached to COVID patients. The least that we as lay men could do is stop portraying ourselves as experts on the subject and spreading fake ‘gyan’ through various platforms.

 “Social media has made everybody an expert,” said Sanjay Pinto, lawyer/columnist. “There is real danger with such fake messages doing the rounds, but sometimes medical advice by non-medical persons end up making pertinent points,” he added, calling it the ‘common-sense’ approach. Instead of fining lockdown violators, Sanjay advised officials to collect Rs 100 as fine and gift the violator 5 masks. And that was indeed well-received in Tamil Nadu.

Even top organisations like the WHO have made several flip-flops with respect to measures advocated to handle the pandemic. Why add to the existing turmoil by lending your unsolicited advice? “Every person seems to have the ‘breaking news’ streak in them,” said Sanjay, adding that he consumes some of these messages with a pinch of salt.

There is still a lot of uncertainty. Is lockdown the answer? Then what about the plunging economy? There is no right answer yet. Even politicians are grappling with the issue of tackling the situation and balancing the market, by seeking expert advice of health officials, while falling prey to the virus.

 “I was given a barrage of advice by all and sundry when I tested positive for COVID-19,” said Karnataka minister CT Ravi. He was the first minister to be COVID-hit in the state, and he is currently being treated. “People suggested and even delivered so many medicines that I could open a pharmacy of my own,” said the minister, adding that he stuck to the doctor’s advice alone and is well on the road to recovery. “The key is to not fall for every information out of burgeoning fear,” Ravi said.

 Dr Shashidhar Buggi, retired director of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases in Bengaluru, was at the forefront fighting H1N1 outbreak in 2008-09. “There is too much democracy. The educated are now selfish and the uneducated are worried about livelihood. So scientific data is never analysed and presented to the world,” he said, stressing on the fact that media must play a crucial role in disseminating information and doctors must focus more on research.

In fact, PM Modi has been seeking the advice of top public health experts and economic professionals to pave the way forward as the fight for vaccine is still on across the world. Trial and error seem to be the motto driving various nations battling coronavirus.

So, instead of spreading unverified advisories, Buggi wondered why people aren’t raising an important question during COVID-19 outbreak? “Has anyone done a postmortem of a COVID victim? I haven’t heard of any yet? Isn’t that essential for research?” questioned Buggi.

 I hope to wake up to a WhatsApp forward that insists on people wearing a mask and covering their nose instead of letting it hover below the nostrils, while claiming to be a COVID protocol follower. And I hope people spend time on the phone trying to exchange information on building health infrastructure than ‘know-it-all’ recipes to replace vaccines. If we’ve no relevant information to help curb the spread, then let’s please “shut up”, for when all is said and done, MORE is said than DONE.

Let’s please understand that positivity rate of COVID-19 in India is indeed growing at an alarming rate with 11 lakh cases (7 lakh recovered) and 27,497 deaths. If there is one hazy light at the end of the tunnel, it’s the fact that the number of recovered patients has exceeded the country’s active case load by 3,04,043 as on July 19. Let’s please be responsible and help India fight COVID-19.