 The world is facing a new challenge that is the pandemic of Covid in last almost close to a year. We are seeing rapidly increasing infection all over. Now when it comes to specifically the heart, now we have learned through some scattered studies and our own experiences that Covid does not produce only the respiratory infection. It does affect many a time simple sore throat and things like that and often it goes away without creating a major issue. But we also do see these things becoming a little more serious, going and producing a pneumonia kind of picture. Some of them heal, some of them do not. Another important thing which we have also seen in some of the patients as it is also seen by various groups across different countries in the world is that Covid also affects the heart muscle. Now how many of these patients will land up in very severe heart problem, requiring immediate care. The exact data is not known because whatever data we are seeing is all kind of scattered. But there are CT scan studies which show that the strength of the heart muscles is decreased in some patients where it has affected the heart. So these patients certainly have to be followed up for long, just not the immediate period. Even if they remain stable, there is no issue. We probably repeated RTPC and we know that Covid has become negative and they go home. But they need to be followed up for quite some time because it's a new disease and the effect of which on the heart is not completely understood. When an echo is done or CT based studies have shown that even after 60 days, some of the hearts still show the effect of Covid in the form of reduced heart function. Now will they produce some kind of hardening of the heart in medical terms called as fibrosis? Will they put them into a new level of heart failure in the future? No one knows. Now this is one way the Covid is damaging the normal hearts. And there are concerns that patients with pre-existing heart problems or patients with diabetes, hypertension and things like this or pre-existing valve problems or coronary artery disease are more prone for developing Covid. Out of fear of Covid, many patients who do require their primary treatment in the heart like somebody who has got acute heart attack or somebody who is suffering from a heart failure, either primary heart failure or secondary to many other pre-existing problems which certainly needs to be treated well within time. Many newborns who are born with very sick, very severe heart problems who require immediate care all these subsets of patients are not reaching the specialist. They are not reaching the hospital. But just with the fear which is not substantiated that you go to hospital you will get Covid. People staying at home and taking things here and many are dying. We know that because patients with acute heart attacks, they cannot survive most of them. At least 40-50% of them, they don't get the right treatment in the right time. So also other serious ailments. Our request through this is that those who really require medical care don't bother too much about contacting Covid in a hospital because that is certainly not substantiated. You should go and take care of your own ailments in your own hospitals with your own cardiologists and surgeons for looking into this problem. This is the time we should try to keep ourselves fit and fine. As far as I am concerned, what I understand by looking into all this is that those who have got good innate immunity are the ones who are escaping these infections and even if they do get an infection, they are not becoming very sick. So what can we do to keep our own immunity proper is one, your diet, eat nutritious diet. Don't compromise on the quality of the diet, more and more of vegetables, fruits, high protein diet. Most important thing. Number two is keep yourself active. Some amount of time spent in exercise properly keeps your immune system boosted as well as your general and cardiac health. Other things, the general things which you are looking at, like if somebody has got a high risk factor really supposing to either lung or the cardiac issue like smoking and other things, it's high time one should give up. We know that these are the things which will compromise your immune system to general health, cardiac health, lung health. So one should give up or cut down or get indulged in it at all. Last but not least is mental health. We all know that stress is never a good thing for our health, whether it is heart or otherwise, it's never a good thing. One should learn how to control your stress, how to come out of it. Be it medication, be it indulging in probably some exercises, be it playing the game. I think what holds good in general also holds good in the COVID season. But since some of the things like going to gym and other things are not possible, even at home one can look at various ways of doing the exercises so that they can maintain their health. Now on this occasion of whole life day, I wish all, everyone a very good heart and as well as general health. Please stay safe.