New Delhi (NVI): The excitement that generally accompanies Holi has already diminished this year as coronavirus keeps spreading, perhaps ruining the festive plans of many.
This time, people are more concerned about getting masks and other preventive equipment, rather than buying pichkaris (water guns) and gulaal (colours).
Holi is a festival of colours and is celebrated widely in India. People indulge in the age-old custom of putting colours on each other, visit relatives and also participate in holi gatherings.
However, the Government has issued a health advisory in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak, asking people to refrain from public gatherings to prevent infection.
There will be no Holi event at Rashtrapati Bhavan this year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have already announced that they will not be participating in Holi Milan programmes.
The WHO report says that the incubation period of the virus is 2-14 days. Asymptomatic people can also spread the infection which is why social distance and personal hygiene is important. If you have a large Holi gathering and go from house to house, you may increase your chances of getting the infection.
The virus shouldn’t cause panic in the country yet because the number of cases is small. However, people need to practice personal hygiene and take some precautions.
Here are some tips which can help you keep the virus away:
If you do decide to play, make sure that no one who is displaying signs of cold, or has a fever, is involved. If you are able, ensure that everyone you play with is not displaying symptoms.
With Holi, there is a likelihood of getting skin allergies and eye infections because of the chemicals in synthetic colours, but medical advice for that is routine and is unrelated to the coronavirus.
While people may know how the disease is transmitted, there are gaps in compliance and also, if you are coughing and sneezing, don’t take your mask off – it is there to protect the people around you.
Being out in the cold does not make you more vulnerable to the infection
The flu and related viruses are seasonal and there are spikes in winter months in India.
However, it is not the cold that makes you sick – you need to come in contact with the virus to get an infection. The dryer air in the colder months has been linked to higher viral transmissibility.
The scattered studies have shown that the immune system may be weakened at colder temperatures. So if you feel uncomfortably cold and are shaking, find a spot in the sun and dry off.
