This article is written by Arush Mittal, a student currently pursuing B.A. LLB. (Hons) from Hidayatullah National Law University. This is an exhaustive article which deals with the current scenario of the coronavirus crisis and talks about the professions that are flourishing at this time.

Introduction

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus has brought the world in the midst of the biggest pandemics of the century. Coronavirus causes a severe acute respiratory disease that originated from the Wuhan province of China that has turned into a global pandemic. 

A lot of businesses are being affected due to this mostly on the negative side but there are a few professions that are flourishing at the time of this crisis. Flourishing of these professions does not necessarily mean only making a profit out of their jobs, these professionals are helping out the infected people and are trying their level best to stop the virus from spreading.

Currently, India has reported thousands of positive cases and these cases are rising day by day. Professions such as data specialists, scientists, researchers, etc are flourishing. The main focus, however, is on the doctors, nurses, medical stores, grocery stores, military personnel, policemen as they have dedicated every second of their lives to save the common people from the deadly coronavirus.

Professions which are flourishing in the time of Coronavirus Crisis

The coronavirus was first declared as an epidemic and then a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) when it had spread to over 110 other countries. The demand in certain professions is increasing due to the spread of the deadly coronavirus. There have been reports by various organizations that say that a lot of companies have reported an increase in job posting for researchers, data specialists, healthcare professionals, etc. 

Employers are hiring those employees who can perform activities such as communication, research, and medical assistance. The jobs related to the coronavirus crisis range from behind the scenes to the frontiers such as doctors and nurses. Some of the flourishing professions at the time of the coronavirus crisis are listed below:

Data Specialist

A data specialist transfers information on paper to electronic systems. Data specialists are mainly employed in corporate IT departments, but also work for government agencies or provide help to the healthcare departments. The main work of a data specialist is to analyze and verify data. It has been noticed that there is not just a need for people to help patients diagnosed with coronavirus but also to look at the statistics of those people who are even slightly related to this virus.

Data is playing a crucial role during the outbreak as it examines the estimated number of cases reported in the countries because it is not easy to find the exact number of cases. Companies are looking for those data specialists who can work from their homes to analyze this virus and reveal more about their data. This job basically requires people who can think rationally regarding the data while paying attention to every minute detail and are adaptable to changes as they would play a major role in analyzing the data related to the coronavirus which would help other professionals.

Scientists

Scientists have never refrained from working as they are the ones that can find the cure for this deadly coronavirus. There has been an unprecedented demographic challenge of keeping 1.3 billion people free from the infection and struggling with limited budgets that have been allocated to the scientists. The scientists of the country have deployed themselves overtime to provide small as well as big solutions. The solutions that the scientists have provided are predicting statistical trends, making models related to them, preparing testing kits and also making low-cost ventilators.

Few scientists are mass-producing masks and hand sanitizers and the others are working tirelessly towards finding a cure for the coronavirus. Due to this health emergency, a lot of scientists have asked the government for some measures that would enhance their research related to this virus. The scientists had made a statement requesting the government to keep research laboratories operational which are working intensely on finding a cure for the coronavirus. A lot of scientists are also attempting to create social awareness about this virus. They have asked the government for their support so that resources can be exploited in their favor.

Indian has been criticized for its poor mass testing capability owing to the scarcity of the testing kits. Scientists at the CSIR – Institute of Genomics and Interactive Biology (IGIB) found a solution that would help in the fast testing of the people. A team had prepared a paper strip based testing kit that would help in the detection of the coronavirus under an hour after the test. This test kit would cost less than 500 Rs. so the expensive machines which are currently used to test the virus can be done away with.

There have been scientists who are developing sequencing strategies so that a mass-barcode screening is possible. This would help the public health authorities manage the outbreak and design potential regions or targets for screening. Teams of scientists are also working to focus on how the virus reacts with ultrastructural tools. Scientists have also been working on rapid diagnostic tests which would take about three months. 

Researchers

Researchers and various research centers have been researching intensely about the coronavirus. This profession is definitely flourishing at the coronavirus crisis. The government of India has launched a nationwide Research and Development (RnD) initiative to combat coronavirus, which neither has a medicine nor a vaccine. There has been a study that shows a unique mutation in the Indian genome which needs to be studied further for better understanding.

The International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), which is based in Delhi has performed intense research on the coronavirus from various geographical origins such as India, Italy, the US, Nepal, China for the identification of features related to the genome in the COVID-19 virus. Researchers have studied that the specific genetic and miRNA spectrum must be the basis of treatment management. 

The Department of Science and Technology – Science and Engineering Board (DST-SERB) has announced several special research projects. The first set of 5 projects have been selected for further development into implementable technologies. These particular projects were selected after peer-review and assessment by a Special Expert Committee for COVID-19 projects. It is estimated that over 24,000 research papers have already appeared across the world in the last four months. These research papers have mostly been published in research journals and medicine research websites.

Doctors and Nurses

Doctors and nurses are the main heroes who are fighting the coronavirus by putting their lives in danger for their patients. A study has found that India has a shortage of an estimated 6,00,000 doctors and 20,00,000 nurses as for every 10,189 people, there is just one doctor and one nurse for every 483 people. This was revealed by the scientist who found that life-saving drugs cannot be accessed due to the lack of staff who are trained in the administration of antibiotics. The prescribed limit for the patient-doctor ratio is 1:1000. Doctors and nurses are trying their best to treat isolated patients and cure them. Healthcare workers have rightfully been dubbed as the frontline soldiers in the battle against coronavirus.

In Spite of the efforts of the doctors and nurses, there have been instances of healthcare workers being attacked by a few patients. Reports say that people have spat on the doctors and chased them away from their house. Some cases also reveal that patients directed abusive and vulgar language towards female nurses. This behavior is deplorable as these doctors and nurses are working day and night to help the patients from the deadly coronavirus and this is how the patients behave. Despite being injured, the doctors are not standing back. Zakiya Sayed, being part of such an incident said that this would not deter the doctors from doing their duties.

Medical Shops

The medical shops have flourished during the coronavirus crisis as the products are going out of stock because the common people are demanding a lot of medicinal products. Several countries across the continent like the US, UAE and other neighbouring nations in the SAARC have said that due to the shortage of drugs at a crisis like this, India should uplift the ban of various pharmaceutical products. The government had banned hydroxy-chloroquine and APIs thinking that it would increase the supply in domestic hospitals but that wasn’t the case. 

Amid the coronavirus scare, the demand for surgical and N95 masks has increased manifold where they were being sold at a rate much higher than the actual cost. Surgical masks which are usually sold for 10 Rs. were being sold for more than 40 Rs. and the N95 masks which are usually sold for 150 Rs. were being sold for more than 500 Rs (this data has been taken from various news articles). The demand for the masks had increased up to ten times than the usual demand. The medical shops have flourished the most at the time of this crisis as they have made enormous profits exploiting the demand of the common people. 

Sanitizers have started to disappear from the shelves of several medical stores and chemist shops. They are being sold at more than three times their original price. Sanitizers and masks were going out of stock which caused havoc among the people as they did not know what to do without these items. Even medicines have gone out of stock. People who go to the medical shops to buy life-saving drugs often return empty-handed. Even the distributors are out of stock, let alone be the retailers.

Grocery Stores

People have been told to remain at their homes while various shops have been shut down to minimize the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi called for a nationwide lockdown but the shops including ration shops dealing with the basic amenities such as food, fruits and vegetables, dairy, meat, and other animal products would remain open. 

District authorities would help in the home delivery of such products to promote social distancing. Hoarding of essential items led to a huge profit for the grocery stores and a shortage of these essential items. It was ensured by the government that essential items that are available at the grocery stores would be made available to the public. This resulted in the flourishing of the grocery stores as these stores would keep running during this crisis. 

Police and Military Personnel

The police have taken the matter in their hands to prevent people from socializing, therefore, minimizing the spread of the coronavirus. During the coronavirus crisis when the poor people did not have the basic amenities, the Lucknow Police distributed ration and food to those who were struggling to earn a single meal a day. Police have also been delivering medicine to the doorstep of old aged people. 

In Chennai, a police officer wore a specially constructed helmet that looked like a microscopic image of the coronavirus to spread awareness about the spread of this deadly virus. As the number of coronavirus cases has been increasing, the Army is on a war-footing to set up more quarantine centers for their personnel and extend its medical infrastructure for the civilians. The Indian Army is prepared to extend its network of hospital and laboratory facilities to assist civil administration at COVID-19 hotspots. Additional training of the Army’s medical personnel at various hospitals to prepare them better for COVID-19 has also been taking place.

Conclusion

The surge of the novel coronavirus has caused major havoc in the country. There are various professionals who are trying to control the spread of this disease. The flourishing professions include professionals such as scientists, police and military personnel, data specialists, researchers, healthcare workers and it also includes the medical and grocery shops. 

The government is doing everything it can do in its power to control the spread of this virus, the common people should adhere to these policies as it is being done only to protect them. The efforts of these professionals should not go into waste as they are risking their lives so we could have a better tomorrow.

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