Dr Sweety Samal finds interesting parallels between the COVID-19 outbreak and popular American fantasy drama TV series, Game of Thrones, to drive home the importance of teamwork and preparation in tackling the current challenge.
By Dr Sweety Samal
Winter is coming! Diehard fans of Game of Thrones (GOT), the popular American fantasy drama television series, will be familiar with the phrase of the Northern House Stark – epitomising environmental changes, followed by the starkness of worst-case scenarios. It represents the arrival of White Walkers, the supernatural threat to humankind who dwell north of The Wall in Westeros. The phrase is a reminder to people of the North to prepare for the change and the fury.
This winter, our world has encountered a new pandemic, COVID-19, a respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus, that first emerged in late December 2019 in the city of Wuhan in China. The viral outbreak has changed the way we live. There are disruption, panic and fear.
Spirit of teamwork
In GoT, the White Walkers cause similar disruption, panic and fear. However, the Winterfell bring together their best fighters, finest leaders and top strategists to prepare for the arrival of the White Walkers. This is the learning we should adopt in our current scenario.
COVID-19 is here and it is going to stay for a while. This is the time we need to start building the best teams, bringing together the brightest scientific leaders, enthusiastic researchers, the industries and the people. We need to prepare ourselves strategically and wisely. The army of viruses might seem vast and exhaustible, but we can outsmart them.
Prepare for the worst
Initially, the Winterfell is not able to outweigh the White Walkers because they were largely inexperienced. Only a handful of the people at Winterfell truly understand what they were facing. The same is true with COVID-19. There are so many aspects of the disease that we do not know yet. In the meanwhile, the internet and social platforms are flooded with misinformation about magic cures and conspiracy theories. In some people, the disease is mild and hence they do not think of it as a big risk. However, thousands have lost their lives over the last three months.
The only thing we can – and must – do is to prepare. Let’s prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Because even if we tackle the currently active cases, the virus may come back. It may not be the coronavirus, but some other viral outbreak. As a society, we need to be better prepared and informed. We can win this war, provided fear and panic don’t get the better of us.
(The author is a virologist and veterinarian, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, India)
