Corona Heroes: People Who Restored Our Faith In Humanity Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

Amid the nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19, life under quarantine and isolation is not easy. For most of us who like travelling, morning walks and eating out, being bound inside the four walls of a house can lead to helplessness and restlessness.

Besides that, waking up every day to a daily dose of bad news only adds to the anxiety.

While the needy are living in much more tough conditions than us, not everyone is sitting back home doing nothing. In such tough times, several individuals and groups of people are restoring our faith in humanity.

Here are six such stories.

1. Amid the lockdown, street dogs are helpless as people who regularly feed them are not leaving their houses. The hungry animals are roaming the streets in search of food. Restoring our faith in humanity, two sisters, Kajal and Disha, provided food to stray dogs in Nagpur. One of them says, "It's our responsibility to feed them in this difficult time".

2. While in the last stage of her pregnancy, virologist Minal Dakhave Bhosale created India's first COVID-19 testing kit. Her team delivered the testing kit in just a span of six weeks. Bhosale guided a team of 10 people working on the project at Mylab Discovery in Pune.

"There were complications in the pregnancy while work on the test kit was on. The baby was delivered through cesarean," Gulf News quoted Bhosale as saying.

"I had been working for five years in this field and if I don't work in emergency situations when my services are needed the most, then what is the use?" she said.

3. Twenty-five km away from Ranchi, three villages have isolated themselves to fight coronavirus amid the nationwide lockdown. To lock themselves in, the villagers have put up self-made barricades across the periphery.

Patrolling in groups, the village youth are ensuring strict implementation of the lockdown. Around 150 households in the area comprise owners who are daily wage labourers.

The self-made barricade has posters plastered on them, announcing no entry and various other precautions to be taken during coronavirus.

"We want to spread the message that the others should also adopt the same measures for the national lockdown. Don't expect assistance from the administration every time. They can barricade their village on their own and lockdown to protect themselves from the deadly virus," India Today quoted the chief of the village panchayat, Suman Gari, as saying.

4. In Bengaluru, an activist and his friends are distributing food packets to help the needy during the lockdown imposed to fight coronavirus. A resident of Shivajinagar, AS Khan and his friends provide meals to auto drivers, beggars, homeless and other vulnerable groups.

They began this initiative on March 21 when eateries across the city suspended operations.

The group has distributed over 3,000 packets of meals such pulao, ghee rice and curd rice in City Market, Gandhinagar, Majestic, Mysore Road, Victoria Road, near Bowring Hospital, and other areas over the eight days.

"We have all the comforts we need, but there are people who struggle to eat even once a day," The Times Of India quoted Khan as saying. Khan is the Karnataka president of NGO Council of Human Rights and Bhrastachar Mukt Samaj, and his initiative is mostly self funded with support from some friends.

"I have spent about Rs 70,000 to date, but the satisfaction I get when a hungry person smiles on getting food is priceless," he said.

5. While the lockdown has been implemented only in the best interests of people, there is a certain section among us that we seem to have left to their own devices - the daily wage labourers. In the event of the entire country being closed, save some essential services, the daily-wage labourers, who make their earnings on a per-day basis, have been facing extreme shortage of not just money, but food as well.

However, thanks to some truly good-hearted people like Vandana Upadhayay, District Coordinator, Ranchi, a lot of daily-wage earners have been taken good care of. Setting up a 'Roti Bank', she ensures that the necessary food and ration items reach the ones who are hungry and feel helpless.

"While we all are busy helping our own people and looking after their needs, there remains a section of the population that we often ignore. It is our duty to take care of them in such odd circumstances," Vandana says.

6. At a time when we are facing acute scarcity of masks and hand sanitizers due to either insufficient supply and increased demand, a self-help group of women from Giridih district of Jharkhand has created their own home-made version of masks and sanitizers which they claim to be just as effective as the regular branded ones in the markets. Similar efforts by women's self-help groups from Latehar and Godda districts have been reported too.

During a lockdown that has confined us to our homes for an unusually long time, the best way to live life is to look out for each other and do our bit to help the needy.

Also Read: In These Difficult Times, Here Are 10 Stories To Cheer You Up