03 September,2020 06:42 AM IST | Mumbai | The Editorial
This picture has been used for representational purpose only
There has been so much to read, and even experience, about how the outbreak has changed the way we live. From mental to the outward or the visible, the pandemic has affected all of us fundamentally in different ways. For some, this journey is more personal or individualistic, for others, it is time to see a collective transformation.
One of the big fallouts is that spitting has become frowned upon, taboo, and there is real fear and recognition of the fact that it spreads germs and diseases. The Central Railway is looking keenly at the Nagpur mode and the implementation of spittoons which are pouches that commuters can buy at stations.
There have been repeated warnings that there are stiff fines for spitting. There are a number of reports highlighting its dangers. Excerpts from one report say that COVID-19 primarily spreads from person to person in close contact or through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes around others. It may also be possible to spread the virus to others through spit.
Virus or not, it is time to call out those who insist on spitting saying they are chewing tobacco products or the like. Some of our public office buildings have evidence of spitting on the inside, walls are smeared with spit stains and our local political leaders are also offenders in this aspect.
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So, it is time we use this period to do away with public spitting. Awareness and fines are our arsenals but what the public needs to do is real introspection and research on this gross habit, which is not only ugly but a health hazard. Read up, learn and try to stop this. If you cannot, use a spittoon. Carry one with you, let this pandemic spell the end to spitting during the pandemic and even beyond.
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