As an air of uncertainty hangs over India because of COVID-19—many parts of which have instituted a partial shutdown—most of us are waiting to see if we’re going to be back to business as usual in a fortnight, or are actually sitting on a COVID-19 outbreak about to burst, thanks to the abysmally low testing. While the state of Gujarat has seen no positive coronavirus cases so far, it is taking a preemptive approach like many others, by shutting down its educational institutes, malls, multiplexes and pools.
But the state has gone one step further by also imposing a ban on spitting, keeping in mind a very Indian habit to liberally use public places as their personal bathroom—from pissing to pooping to spitting outdoors. This ban on spitting in public spaces has been put in place in order to curb the virus from spreading, in case the person spitting happens to be infected with COVID-19.
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“It’s established that the viral infection spreads through droplets,” chief secretary of Gujarat, Anil Mukim said. “The decision is taken to stop the practice harmful for public health.” If caught spitting, you can also be fined Rs 500 (USD 6.75).
In the past, officials from the health department of Surat, in Gujarat, have made a man caught spitting perform squats while holding his ear, when he didn’t have money to pay the fine for spitting. Red-stained buildings—a by-product of the act of chewing paan (leaves of the betel plant wrapped around tobacco) and directing the crimson spit at literally any open space in sight—are a hallmark of Indian cities. It’s not rare to see people unload their substantial phlegm-loaded mucous on roads, from cars halted in traffic jams to while simply walking by. Maybe the only positive thing to come out of this scary outbreak—apart from pollution levels dropping in many countries because of people staying indoors—is the fact that maybe we will finally pick up some basic civic manners.
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