Covid-19: A virus which made people’s lives impotent
Prepared by: Sreekanth R, Counselor for IEEE St. Joseph’s College of Engineering Student Branch
On 31st December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) was informed of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan City, China. A novel coronavirus was identified as the cause by Chinese authorities on 7th January 2020 and was temporarily named “2019-nCoV”. People without knowing the level of seriousness of this virus for the first few months lived a normal life. This pandemic had a huge effect on the population. Throughout the epidemic, the IEEE St. Joseph’s College of Engineering Student Branch Chapter has worked tirelessly to implement numerous methods to raise awareness about the pandemic. The SB organized many webinars and sessions to create awareness to the public. Each and every session sparked the young brains of the Student Branch to come up with various project ideas and outreach activities. Apart from student branch members, school students and fellow college members also gained awareness about the pandemic.
Under the Bavani Officers Association, a group of IEEE members from St. Joseph’s College of Engineering Student Branch Chapter came up with the idea of a low-cost automatic hand sanitizer. The cost of the automatic sanitizer costs around USD4.50, which is affordable for all citizens. It can be handled by anyone anywhere since it operates on a simple mechanism. After the successful completion of the automatic hand sanitizer, the sanitizer was made available to those who operate small and big scale businesses. The crew members sold out the sanitizer below the fixed price in their neighborhood. Even in local tea stalls, medical shops and grocery shops, the hand sanitizer created a great impact amongst the public. The team members are now working on digitizing this project.
Doctors, nurses, and medical practitioners are the ones working so hard to save our lives. The IEEE Student Branch organized a virtual session on COVID-19 awareness program “Dawn in the dusk” by three eminent Doctors (Dr. M. Logaraj – MD, Professor & Head, Epidemiology, Health System, Department of Community Medicine, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai; Dr. G. D. Devi – M.S. Ophthalmology, Regional Institute Of Ophthalmology, Govt Eye Hospital, Egmore, Chennai Medical Officer in COVID Duty, Chennai; Dr. V. Prassanna, Ex. Assistant Medical Officer, Ministry Of Defense Puducherry). The doctors provided us with insightful information on how to be safe and aware of COVID-19. Dr. G.D. Devi gave insight about what is COVID-19, the way the covid-19 spreads and the precautions that have to be taken during this pandemic as well as epidemic period in a brief. She insisted on everyone to stay home and follow the government rules. This program was mostly focused on the COVID-19 and its prevention methods.
There is a distinction between teamwork and individual work; teamwork can accomplish anything in a short amount of time. Our IEEE Student Branch came up with a fantastic fundraising idea: each IEEE member in our student branch gave a modest amount of money, and the team eventually raised $134.69 (₹10000) which was donated to the Chief Minister’s Corona Fund.
The college staff has been fully vaccinated with two doses, and 60% of the students have been vaccinated as a result of these sessions. It creates awareness among every individual who is yet to be vaccinated. At the end of the session the team got a massive response from the audience. Due to this pandemic, our physical health and mental health have suffered a huge impact. As a stress relief, our IEEE Student Branch has organized a seven-day fitness competition “CRATUS’20 – The Fitness Challenge” which was open to all and the winners were awarded prizes and certificates.
The pandemic is still on-going. We will continue to spread awareness among the people and our team is working on different projects. The IEEE St. Joseph’s College of Engineering Student Branch Chapter prays that everyone who is affected by this COVID19 for a speedy recovery.