In a region wracked by hatred, the scare around this Chinese germ is a welcome interval, especially on social media | REUTERS image for representation

So our upper-middle class has got a healthy break from the toxic Hindu-Muslim climate.

This scare over the new Chinese coronavirus has encouraged it to launch some fresh activism on social media and in face-to-face conversations.

The WhatsApp groups I am a member of are swamped by videos and forwards suggesting desi treatments.

Forget whether they are scientific or not. That these messages are being circulated by our upper-middle class testify to their popularity in educated circles.

THE ONION TIKTOK

Sample this "cure" issued by a middle-aged woman showing slices of onions in a TikTok stamped "share it". "Sprinkle common salt on these slices from a medium-sized onion. Give them to the patient," she advises in Punjabi. "Give the patient a glassful of water after half-hour. Get him/her tested after one hour. The results will be 100 per cent negative," the woman continues.

It's not clear though how many successful clinical trials of the onion therapy she has conducted on the 12 Indian patients diagnosed with the coronovirus so far. Phew!

JUST FORWARD IT, VERIFIED OR NOT!

Pictures of homeopathy and ayurvedic vials have also gone more viral in our country than the coronavirus itself around the globe.

Pictures of homeopathy and ayurvedic vials have also gone viral

Advisories are another major hit. Verified or unverified, they are the favourite among India's chronic forwarders.

In a region wracked by hatred, the scare around this Chinese germ is a welcome interval, especially on social media.

SCARE DILUTES TOXICITY

Concerns about health and saving humanity from this microscopic "scourge" have replaced posts and messages filled with communal toxicity.

Please stay the course. Don't get back into hatred.

Keep discussing the coronavirus in a country where average hard-working citizens have perhaps envious levels of immunity, which no five-star supplements can produce in people like me, who are clung to computers and cellphones.

ONE MORE FAVOUR, PLEASE!

But yes, the same upper-middle class can do one more favour to humanity - dipping the beams of their car headlights while driving at night and avoiding fog lamps in bonus. They are more dangerous for fellow humans on the road than this teeny bug.