The moth long COVID surge has rattled India and put immense pressure on the medical services in the country  . Oxygen cylinders , concentrators , gloves , hand sanitizes , nurses , and diagnostic and testing centers are no always with in reach especially in very small towns and cities . The second COVID wave has resulted in thousands of deaths , people dying on the footpath . On top of that the nation had to witness the horror of dead bodies floating in the Yamuna . People are able to cremate their daed due to shortages and over worked creation grounds . Used car parks are becoming make short cremation ground . On top of that you ahem the doom and gloom every day in the media as people are making money and profiteering form other peoples misery by selling injections and oxygen concentrators at ten time the price . I myself have suffered form COVID in April and so has my grandmother who is still ill and under home quarantine . I have myself witness the horror and frustrations of being vaccinated and standing in long queues to get an oxygen cylinder . One must remember that an oxygen cylinder lasts only for about 16 hours , so if you have a patient with COVID it will take at least three weeks for him to fully recover that means you need a cylinder every day .

We luckily managed to get a spare cylinder so if one was being ,re -filled the other could come up as a back up . There is confusion on the send shot of the jab as there are no vaccines and the hospitals are turning people away after the first Jab . Amongst all this chaos and death there is a ray of hope and that hope and help is coming from the new age social media influencers  and content creators who have become COVID worriers , unwittingly that is . Young social media influencers are becoming the main source of help and information to others . People desperate for help need information , helpline numbers , information where they can get oxygen cylinders , day nurses and who can they get tested . Which Hospitals have beds and where the vaccines are available at state prices .

These influencers are helping families with correct information and locations where help can be given to the sick and the needy . Since these influencers have a pre existing network they are able to get the right information and the correct information timely to the pole in need . They also offer advice and push for donations for the needy .

They can activate their network and urge their followers to cat come forward to help with money and recourses . Being localized they can help epos install and new by communities of their influence and are more effective than government agencies and helplines that are over burdened with calls for help and resources . That is where these young and agile influencers come to the rescue of the sick and they’re suffering families .

Most fo the influencers do it for no cost and as part of their social work and help to the community . Want to know if your local Gurudwara is giving free oxygen and free food ask your local influencer and he will tell you .Want to know where you can get your oxygen cylinder filled the influencer will tell you with numbers contact names and location maps . They have filled in the gap where the government has failed , most providing this help who h goes beyond their call of duty . The government meanwhile instead of focusing on COVID relic is busy deleting critical social media post and videos that speak against its callousness .

Some influencers are also acting as make shift therapists just talking to people on video chats and sharing experiences while consoling the ill and the sick .They surely have managed to fill a need gap in these trying times and as a society we need to honour that . As we shame profiteer and racketeers like Kalra who are making money by duping people in ether hour of need , we need to also hail these Social media influencers for helping the needy and the sick .

The world has been hit by the Corona virus from over one and a half years and wave after wave in hitting countries , where does sex amongst partners stand in Corona times . An age where we are all masked up and social distancing is the norm how are people having sex and what must people think off before they get intimate with each other . The specialist say that in these times one should restrict sex only to known partners and if one of the partners is sick the other should isolate , avoid kissing and hugging at times like these . Avoid getting into new relationships and having new and unknown sex partners as Corona is transmitted by droplets and saliva you don’t know who you are really kissing , you don’t know whether they have the virus or not . Paid sex and escorts are a no no in times like these and one should avoid casual sexual acts to remain safe  .

People in relationships are also maintaining distance even at home and people are resorting to writing love letters or telling tales of love and joy to each other . This is to compensate for the loss of touch and tenderness that humanity is currently missing . If your partner even has light symptoms avoid sex at all cost . Make sure you definitely use a condom as saliva is the major carrier of the virus .

I for one have avoided sex during the entire Corona Phase last time I had sex with someone was February last year before the lockdown situation in India and since then I have not had sex at all .The main reason being I have no regular partner and I fear paid sex is too dangerous in times like these .

An age where shaking hands , hugging , kissing have become a no no doctors advice not to have new sex partners or get into new relationships in these times . Even in home doctors advice partners need to keep a two meter distance that surely beats any romance that can take place between partners .Make sure that if you have sex you use a condom at all times to keep safe do not keep contact with a partner you are actually not living with .

As we see ourselves gripped by a violent COVID surge people are looking to each other to help out . Community actions like people turning unused school buses into oxygen posts or auto  drivers ferrying patients to the hospitals with oxygen cylinders and masks in toe , so that the patients have a better chance to live . Ambulances run shelter skelter with emergency patients from one hospital to other , there are no beds for tor the  choking Indian today and people die on footpaths and make shift shelters . Social media and videos on YouTube are full of personal grief and people crying out in pain as they are unable to save their family members due to acute shortage of oxygen , hospital beds and vaccines .

Nurses and doctors are in short supply and not at times fully trained to handle the traffic , all you see is doctors trying to restate patients but unable to save them . There are images of burins fires and morgues who are full up and over loaded with more than 400 bodies being burnt in cremation grounds .

People are using the social media to get nurses and oxygen masks and trying to get vaccines which are now being sold in the black market at ten times the price .It is safe to say that a tragedy fro some is an opportunity for another , thus COVID black marketing is on the rise and the police are trying to bust some of these black marketers .

All this as case tallies rise to 4 lakh plus everyday and deaths rise over 4k and the carnage continues . Social media posts get bitter as the gander of the people is rightfully directed at the BJP government of Mr Modi , the surge of COVID has lead to dwindling fortunes of the ruling party that lost elections in Bengal , Karla , Tamil Naidu and managed to win Assam by the whisker . It was trounced in the UP Panchayati elections by the rising BSP and SP parties and it’s key city of Varanasi is in shambles as people are dyeing by the hundreds due to a resurgent virus which is now also killing the young .

No government wants to hear bad news and this is a carnage  the courts are putting further pressure on the state and national government and agencies to act and make sure testing and vaccination continue at a smart pace . People are venting out their anger in open on twitter and social media castigating the government . The government response has been typical having these posts removed and accounts banned anyone who raises his voice will be muzzled and taken to task .

Where social media has helped in joint community action and has helped in the crisis the government is hell bent on censoring dissent and criticism by gagging social media and putting pressure on providers to take off anti government posts saying this is false news and will insight hate and disharmony in the society .This is their response speaking your mind and expressing your grief is treason now and you never know when the cops will come knocking for you , just look at Kangana Ranaut .

We need no succumb to this if they remove posts repost them on other social media handles . You can also ask your social media site why your post was removed and contact them to reinstate your account , don’t take this censorship lying down remember your voice is you very own weapon and you have a right to express your views .

The month of April has been an eye opener to me , it was the first time the Virus hit me personally and effected people and loved ones closely associated to me . I have been spending time with my grandmother who is 92 years old and suffers from Diabetes . I had managed to save my self from COVID 19 thus far having had a test last year November I was COVID negative , always wore my mask followed social distancing along with hygiene . I stayed indoors either in hotel rooms or in my house most of the time , avoided public gatherings or even visiting restaurants . But the second wave hit me and my near and dear hard .

It so happened that mays servant boy went to Haridwar to participate in the Kumbh Mela he got the virus back with him and infected me with in days .This was after I had had my first shot of the covid vaccine . I started getting back pain and body aches and soon was bed ridden with fever which would go up and down . I had Crocin to get the over down for a few days , but the virus took hold I lost my appetite , got a cold and dry cough . Their were nights I used to cry out in pain as I felt my insides bursting . Their were nights I got hick ups that would not go away . Along with a dry mouth needing water all the time . By the end of the fifth day I decided to see a doctor , in my local hospital near my house . My oxygen and blood pressure was checked and then I had a blood test done . The doctor gave me a long list of medicines to have for the next seven days . I had them although my appetite was gone I took my medication . The temperature remained but my situation began to improve the body pain began to recede and I had a bath on the eleventh day . I made sure I had lots of juice and mango’s and all took some Baba Ramdev remedies just in case to get my immunity up .

By the fourteenth day I had improved and was moving about in the garden freely . The second wave had forced the local authorities to declare a curfew and lock down , shops were asked to be open only till Noon and after that the streets were deserted . All that one could see and hear were ambulances running shelter skelter across the city with sirens blaring .

All night I stayed up in bed listening to news report about lack of oxygen and beds in hospitals now I was facing it first hand as my grandmother had got the infection from me . She was bed ridden and had lost her appetite . We went to hospitals but they advised home quarantine as beds where not available . So I along with my servants created a mini hospital in my room , as advised by friends I managed to arranged a 24 hour nurse and we got oxygen at Rs 4000 a cylinder . My granny had been hit hard she had become pale and her blood oxygen  levels had fallen below 70 . It was friends who helped out with numbers , one needed Nebulizers ,masks and medication . Every day was challenge as we used local auto’s to get re fills for my Grand mothers oxygen . Being old she was venerable and was gasping for air , we had to make sure she got oxygen at all times other wise she would die . We managed so far with two cylinders in the house as one cylinder lasts one day only . But sew as getting good care by the nurse who kept monitoring her and making sure she was breathing right .

Lockdown has been declared in many cities and Dehra Doon is at a stand still with very limited shops opening .All one hers is doom and gloom in the news and people dyeing across the board more than 4lakh cases a day and climbing . Every day you hear some one in the neighborhood passed away . So much so that my blog team and some key book bloggers also got the virus at the same time .

The house is a mini hospital as all of us roam around wearing masks even indoors . their is no need to take granny to the hospital as we have managed to get care to her at home , just hope she can fight this as being old she will have to fight . I for one am fine now and even went for a 5 km walk yesterday , my fruit and juice diet has kept me healthy and the morning baths re invigorate me . I felt the fear of COVID for the first time it was like I had become the news stories I was watching on youtube.com .

Now I await my second injection and hope that I would have developed some immunity by defeating the virus last month .Buy granny still fights , she is on oxygen and still not eating well , I just hope she gets well soon , but we have to be patient .Relatives and friends call up asking  about her condition and give their advice as my servants run around the city for medicine and oxygen re fills .The streets are empty except for blaring sirens one can hear nothing , it’s like the city is in a coma from an unknown plague which is just making people gasp for air and oxygen this is a new kind of death as people choke to death in hospitals with doctors pumping their hearts and giving mouth to mouth in a bid to keep them alive . India is the worst hit country after America and our vaccination program is going very slowly , with anchors in the news blaming it on the government who they feel was too over confident and callous in allowing elections and IPL to take place in these dire times .IPL has been put on hold as many cricketers have got the virus to the famous bio bubble has been busted by the bug . It is killing all even the young now as kids are getting the virus too .

Entertainer Kangana Ranaut has been offering disputable expressions on Twitter. Since the time a year ago, she formally assumed control over her web-based media account from her group, her tweets have been erased for abusing Twitter rules. Presently, Twitter India has suspended her record.