“My name is Corona. Though I have an ancestry of many centuries my present form came in to existence on 31st December, 2019. I am in reality a virus but because I have created a rumpus all over the world, they have given me the nickname of Covid-19 too. Call me by any name you like, but not late when there are pickings to be done! My viral predecessors have been accused for causing illness since time immemorial. I live in the bodies of some animals and birds too. It is only when humans begin to upset the ‘apple-cart’, tamper with wild life that I begin to manifest myself and cause havoc in multiple places in this world. Currently I am in the hey-day of my form but remember that my cousins have in former times caused tremendous sufferings in this world. There was the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-20 which had three peaks and is estimated to have infected 500 million people worldwide. Of this fifty million people are estimated to have died. In more recent times the subsequent SARS, MERS and Ebola epidemics have also taken their toll of lives. Sadly, you humans never learnt from these epidemic disasters. All this has occurred because humans have been dominating the natural habitats of the world. Nature has occasionally hit back, whenever Homo sapiens gradually took over the world. Much of the flora and fauna which existed in the past are gone because of the onslaught by the human race. Many species of animals and birds which once flew over or roamed the world have disappeared!

“I recall that in 2011 an American film titled ‘Contagion’ carried a story about me as virus, originating in a bat and spreading out from China to the rest of the world. Later the American writer Sylvia Browne in her 1981 book ‘End of Days’ stated that in 2010 there will be a flesh-eating disease (? Ebola) and in 2020 a severe pneumonia like illness will spread throughout the globe. Also, in 1981 another US author Dean Koontz predicted in ‘The Eyes of Darkness’, that a nightmare – ‘Wuhan -400’ would be caused by me, Corona. It therefore surprises me to hear that the Americans are now blaming the Chinese of hiding facts about the virus as it had been forecast, albeit in fiction form many years ago. In reality it is the Americans of Harvard University laboratories which have been collaborating with the Wuhan Institute of Virology in the past. There are surely others too in the race to produce a vaccine to either disable or to finish me off!

“There is no denying the fact that I have created a rumpus all over the world. Some of the countries of East Asia did not suffer too much initially because of wearing masks, washing hands frequently and greeting each other by bowing or doing Namaste rather than shaking hands. Many in Europe and the Western world ignored all this and suffered a great deal. One has only to think of the large number of deaths caused by me in the initial peak of this pandemic. Even highly developed countries with health systems established for years, as in UK and USA are at a loss as to how to deal with me. Touristic countries such as Italy and Spain suffered greatly too because of the initial stress on ventilators and lack of appropriate medication. The Italians after doing autopsies are now suggesting that many of those that I killed off died of blood clots in blood vessels and multiple organs failure.

“The situation in South America, Africa and even India are in the process of becoming worse day by day. No wonder. The belief in Plasma Therapy, Hydroxychloroquine / Chloroquine, Madagascar’s Wonder Potion, Ayurvedic amrits and even Besar Pani have had their advocates but there is no guarantee of success! I personally think that these were ploys by clever politicians to distract and hoodwink the public. This is the stark truth. I have already caused massive number of deaths in USA, Brazil, India, Russia and South Africa. Worse things are on the horizon. I am just now in the process of starting the second wave in many of the countries of Europe which have ended their lock downs and are easing restrictions. True it is because of the fact that their economies have been sorely affected. Almost all of those who survived have plenty of lung damage to cope with. Now it is the younger people who are getting infected. Surprisingly many still go around without masks – sheer foolishness. It is time now for them to think seriously about the future of mankind and to take steps so that humans and the rest of the flora and fauna continue to exist and flourish in future years. If they don’t take appropriate steps for the benefit of mankind, I Corona will show them what I can do.

“Currently I am being maligned in Nepal by a large number of people making quick money on substandard test kits that do not give correct results, poor protective wear and so-called masks of no protective value. These have enabled well connected importers to make quick money at the cost of the harassed Nepali.

“Surprisingly whilst both the American and British governments have acknowledged that they have not handled the crises I created, the Nepali government refuses to acknowledge their faults in all spheres of working. So, what to do? Ke garne? Your government in Nepal has shown how incompetent it is. Lock down rules which have become a farce, ill treatment of those in quarantine without food and facilities so that they fled. Now that the infection rates are increasing is just a manifestation of the people in position of authority in your land. Pray now to Lord Pashupatinath to save you. Just as he stored the poison in his Nilkanth pray to him for my storage or disposal.

“What worries me however is the rat race that is going on in many countries of the world to produce a vaccine that curtails me or even puts an end to me. All those involved are in it for the money that they can get. If they had the welfare of the people in mind, they would waive their rights to money from the sale of the vaccine, just as Dr. Jonas Salk did for the polio vaccine.

“Bye for now. Corona.”

The author writes fiction under the name of Mani Dixit. Website: www.hdixit.org.np. Twitter: @manidixithd