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COVID-19 And The Environment ...


My heart breaks as I continue to hear disturbing news about the rising number of infections and subsequently deaths of people infected with the Corona virus around the world. I sincerely sympathize with people who have lost loved ones to this deadly disease. The severity of the situation hit me today as I stumbled across a short video on instagram showing nurses in ICU in New York, on their knees praying, and crying out to God for mercy, and His divine power to heal those afflicted with this highly infectious disease. My heart broke and my eyes glistened with tears, as I watched this heartbreaking scenario. It then dawned on me that if we don't rise and do something quickly about this pandemic, humanity might become extinct. God forbid!
But  what can we do now? I keep wondering.  Yes, its good to wash or sanitize your hands. It's also good to keep your hands away from your face because the gateway to your lungs, where the Corona virus wants to get to, is through your nose or nostrils. It's also good to practice social distancing to protect yourself; it's also good to self isolate. But how long is this going to go on while we wait for a solution from the medical field? The whole world right now is at a stand still as we battle for our lives and that of our children.
From China where this so called pandemic started to America, where the statistics of infected people is on the rise; to Italy and Spain where numerous citizens have died, and now to Africa, especially Nigeria, where we already have cases rising daily, we can only hope for a miracle!
First and foremost, as an advocate of the environment and also a trained geographer, I am rummaging through a lot of questions,  and pondering in my mind; and also wondering if this COVID-19 virus has materialized as a result of some vices or damage done to the environment. Could it be as a result of  climate change and global warming? Or could it be as a result of air pollution, land and soil pollution or water pollution?  I heard a short broadcast about how the virus came to be in a small town in China. It happened on one of their fish market days; I think that's how the first person who contracted the disease got it. It passed from an animal to the human. Whether it was from the fish or not, I really don't know; I didn't get that part of the gist. But from what I heard, there was a transfer. Now, I keep wondering,  if the virus came from the fish to the human, was the water in which the fish had its habitation previously before it was caught, polluted? In time past, we have heard of cases of sewage and industrial waste pollutants polluting water bodies, thereby altering drastically ecosystems, and infecting and killing aquatic animals. And when humans came in contact with these animals or polluted water, they had infections which even led to deaths.
l ask these questions, because if we cautiously and consciously ask these profound questions, I believe, there in lies the solutions to the problem arrantly staring at us in the facc!
 I have no doubts, that the COVID-19 virus is a demise of some environmental problem in the world today from that region of China. Let's not forget that the country's population is a growing international problem, and pollution in all ramifications there, is imminent. And could this also be a bio weapon? Or are we currently camouflaged in a bio war?  Could this also be a devious plot to become world power?


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