A CELEBRITY PROFILE OF CORONAVIRUS

I was led into the quaint living room of Covid-19 and there he sat smoking the cigar. “Quite familiar! Have I seen him before?” I asked my intellect.

“Possibly in Wuhan National BSL-4 lab!”, came a bizarre voice. He had overheard me. I so wanted to clarify the “possibly” word that my following sentence came like an arrow from archer’s bow. “ So, a biological warfare ?”

“Well! Viruses are known for their unpredictability. Aren’t they?”, Covid-19 winked. He was clever, indeed.

Your outbreak has been declared as ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’ by WHO which places you at par with Ebola, Zika, Poliovirus and Swine Flu. Do you have any idea?” I asked him.

“But my territory is uncharted. Isn’t it?” He answered with a superiority grin. He was true. More than 75000 cases have been confirmed in mainland China and there are still questions on how Covid-19 spreads and its treatment.

“Like to have some tea?”, he asked. “Sure!”, I replied in hope of getting some groundbreaking info.

“Do you know during World War 1, Biological sabotage in the form of anthrax and glanders was undertaken on behalf of the Imperial German Government? UK, In fact, was the first country to successfully weaponize a variety of deadly pathogens and bring them into industrial production with the onset of WW 2. The secret Imperial Japanese Army Unit 731 often conducted fatal human experiments on prisoners, and produced biological weapons for combat use. In 1940, the Japanese Army Air Force bombed Ningbo (China) with ceramic bombs full of fleas carrying the bubonic plague where 400,000 people might have died but were saved because of inefficient delivery systems. Bio-terrorism is no alien now. So, Why my ‘possible’ outbreak, as a biological weapon, troubling the whole world?”, he asked while sipping his tea.

“Because of the legally binding treaty, Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), which outlaws biological arms.”. I had come fully prepared.

He grinned like a Cheshire cat. And his smile changed my viewpoint, forever. What is the efficiency rate of anti-terrorism legislation? Be it of any kind- conventional, chemical, and nuclear? We need to change the lens through which we are seeing this issue. Question is not whether Covid-19 was a result of an evil germ warfare which probably rebounded. Question is if it was a bio-weapon attack, are we ready? If smallpox — perhaps the greatest killer in the history of mankind — were used as a weapon against us, would we be able to respond?

“By the way, Steven Soderbergh and Wolfgand Peterson owe me a lot. Their movies, Contagion and Outbreak, are making it to the list of most-watched movies of month”.

“Yes Definitely! You are no less than brand ambassadors for them. But Made in China things don’t last long.” This time I replied with a wink.

“Mr. Pathogen! Who told you I was made there?” He played his master stroke and brought me to the knees.