Pandemic - Malaria

My grandmother lived through malaria in Indonesia in the 1940’s. She was a young child who survived malaria herself. She often told me of the sad stories of people dying left and right from either malaria or starvation. Bodies lay piled in the masses in the middle of a dugout street, and way too many small children left to die. I recall her many memories and stories on this pandemic. Malaria hit in Southeast Asia in 1942 when the US Army and the Japanese were at war. Malaria is an infectious disease caused by parasites that attack the human body and is carried through mosquitos and said to come from as far back as the ice age. Antimalarial combats this disease, and at this time was scarce.  Many American soldiers fighting in the war contracted the disease. Once a person has malaria, they are either very ill for several weeks and got better with rest and healing or the disease went rampant and the person died. Signs of malaria are fever, chills, and weakness. This is much like the symptoms of the coronavirus/COVID 19. Malaria is still around today and parts of Asia including Indonesia and India have a high malaria rate, mostly because of the climate and muddy waters the mosquitos like to live in. The COVID-19 is a type of flu virus that causes shortness of breath, coughing chills, and fever. California has an alarming number of cases growing each day. To live during this pandemic has caused a lot of anxiety and worry. On the flip side, it slowed things down and people have learned to either embrace the slowdown of the new life of quarantine or can easily let it damage their mental clarity and toughness. Personally, I definitely need yoga to stay sane during this pandemic as I work remotely, have 3 children and I am on my final classes to graduation. It felt as if I tackled more jobs, just with less driving. It is devastating to see so many deaths and sick people but has also been a blessing to some to just be able to be still and pause for a little bit.