Covid-19 the dreadful pandemic has devastated many a life and has brought with it an unprecedented lockdown in multi-phases across the world with the hope of flattening the curve, the ever-so optimistic word for the laity. Yet, post-lockdown scenario looks grim, as the hope that was with ‘Flatten the Curve’ has apparently not materialised; on the contrary Covid positivity has been on the rise as nobody’s business.

Post-lockdown, very wrongly making its rounds as post-Covid is anything but that! Covid is going to be with us for months to come, if not years! It is too premature to talk about post-Covid.

Be that as it may, ever since lockdown has been lifted in many places, the alarming rise in the number of positive cases has brought anything but positive into people’s lives today. It is the right time to go well past the 1^st stage of Kubler Ross phenomena, but we seemed to have got mired in it so intricately that ‘acceptance’ seems to be a mirage today. Into 100 days of covid-19 infection, we are still in the denial stage, the ubiquitous early phenomenon of most pandemics. The fear of the people when the world corona count was 1000, is not there today, when the count is over 1,00,000; but the denial should not deter us from making the mirage a reality. Acceptance of the persisting Covid infection and living with it as a bed mate for the next couple of years should be the mantra to beat the pandemic!

So, what is this ‘acceptance’ that we are talking about today; by saying “living with it as a bed mate” do we mean that one should sleep with a Covid positive person. Seriously speaking, do not take it literally. Acceptance here means ‘learn to live with Covid’ – you cannot just wish it away; it is here to stay with us.

In view of the lockdown-induced dip in economy, businesses have been opening up and with it the prospect of perpetual public movement. Public movement brings with it an exponential rise in the problems that are inevitable with congestion, be it the traffic jams or the scale of disease transmission. So better sense lies in accepting the reality and striking a correct balance between congestion and disease transmission, today’s most contentious issue, rather than taking the proverbial ‘head in the sand’ stance.     

We can never be sure of zero risk of infection when we resume our daily activities, but that should not be a deterrent for our essential movement. Move, we will, but be alert to the ever-persistent risk of catching the infection and adopt different ways of preventive measures to counter the infection.