Biologist, environmentalist, Prof Suvarna Fonseca e Antao is a teacher and human being extraordinary! In a Facebook post she has provided this simplified and dramatic explanation and understanding of how the coronavirus operates in our body once it gets in…it’s to say the least here, fascinating!
We quote:
“Our cells are top level laboratories.The core of this tiny inanimate electron microscopic biological nonliving virus is RNA. It is covered by a coat of protein and in addition on the outside it has as an envelope, a layer of fatty acids (RNA is not a protein but nucleic acid). This viral RNA has all the information in a coded form for the virus.
“Since it does not have any enzymes, etc, for the RNA to translate the code, it requires our living cell where viral RNA will now command (biotechnology at the virus and our cell level) and use our cells machinery to start translating, producing its protein and fats in our cells are used to form the fatty coat. It will then assemble itself in huge numbers, and destroy our cells only to infect more cells.
“But our body does not keep quiet. We have our own defences. Our immunity. If you can understand the defences of our country, land army, water navy, air airforce, it is the same. Our cells are fighting. But when the intruder is new and the body is not prepared, then if your system is healthy it will put up a fight and destroy it. But if not in 14 days time you will start showing symptoms.
“Our defences are placed in certain entry areas of our body like how we have check posts, so we too have check posts in our body, to check the intruders. Just to mention a few:1) Skin; 2) Saliva; 3) Mucosal patches in the nose, throat, reproductive canals, intestines, etc; 4) Nasal Hair yes, but it will not filter the virus because of the small size of virus; 5) A huge check post are the tonsils. Virus does not stay there. It is caught by the tonsil structure. The immune cells will put up the fight to destroy. Here too if your body fails or is unable to overcome, because virus is in large numbers, then it goes to the respiratory system or the cells on its way all along and starts manufacture of its kind using our cells as factory.
“Regarding hot water, at the throat, the biological concept is that heat allows the flow of blood to the region that is hot, this flow of blood brings fresh blood with cells that defend our body, it assists the already present immune cells. (Like calling the CRPF to assist Goan Police!)
“Also remember we were not prepared when terrorists used the waterfront to enter Bombay.This virus is new, our body is not prepared. Does not mean that our body will not rise up to the occasion. But you have to assist it!

1. Eat well whatever you have. Keep it simple.
2. Sleep well
3. Hydrate yourself
4. Keep clean
5. Don’t panic
6. Tell yourself that you are strong and your body will fight it
7. Listen to some nice pleasant song or music. Feel good
8. Close your eyes and imagine some beautiful thoughts that brought a lot of pleasure and happiness
9. Change your pillow covers often
10. Keep your bed covered with a thick bed cover which you remove when you go to sleep. And cover your bed again on waking. Do it diligently
11. Keep windows open for air circulation to remove micro droplets
    12.Pray
12. Do all this, by staying at HOME
    Virus is smart, like the terrorist. Catches us when we are not prepared. So be alert. Children do not go into the third stage easily up to the age of 10 to 12 years. They have an organ called thymus which is a training center for immune cells (B-lymphocytes) to face the new intruders (antigen, here it is the virus) to prepare antibodies by the modified trained B- lymphocytes now called fighter cells T-lymphocytes.
    It’s like a few graduates go to BED college to become teachers or few go to terrorist camps to train and fight as terrorists with do or die attitude and fighter spirit is built. What is at the micro level is seen at the macro level!

ILLEGAL CONSTRUCTION COMES TO A HALT

By Stephen Dias

The 8th storey building which was coming up at the Bay View residential area at Dona Paula has come to a grinding halt as the migrants workers who were contracted to work on that building have left the site and gone to their respective states in the wake of the 21- day lockdown following the Covid-19 scare.
All the people of Dona Paula have heaved a sigh of relief with many considering this lockdown as a blessing in disguise with respect to this matter and the intervention of natural justice after the failure of the various government departments — including NGPDA (despite a letter notifying them of the objection by Sanjit Rodrigues), Municipality (CCP) and Taleigao Panchayat who were responsible for the issue of all licences for the construction of this building — as well as the disregard of the clamour of the people by the court who could have suo moto stayed the construction pending verification/inspection of its legality.
I have been personally, with little support, waging a war against this illegal high rise construction coming up despite not having enough front access road of proper width (existing is 4.5 metres, documents fraudulently show 10 mtrs) but without any effect. Also according to the rule book the floor area ratio ( FAR) norms do not allow for such high rise building in this Panchayat jurisdiction to come up unless there exist good God fathers
I hope that this construction along with other illegal multi-storied buildings coming up elsewhere meet the same fate and be left incomplete even after things go back to normal.