Last March, when schools went online overnight, little did Vile Parle resident Niral Satra know that her six-year-old son Shaurya would start wearing glasses in due time. By March this year, she noticed him squinting while watching TV and during online school. When they consulted an ophthalmologist, the Satras learnt that their boy required vision correction. 

In a similar case for Santacruz-based Seema Vadiwala, her eight-year-old was finding it difficult to read a signboard at the doctor’s clinic, and hence was tested. The world over,  2020 was declared as the year of quarantine myopia. According to studies from  The Netherlands and China, as a result of Covid-19 restrictions, myopia has increased drastically, especially in children between the ages of six and eight. In this age group, visual acuity shifted by a substantial 0.3 diopters towards myopia, an eye disease that leads to poor vision at a distance, while the near vision is clear. Severe myopia can lead to eye disorders and diseases such as cataracts, macular degeneration and glaucoma, leading to blindness. It is caused due to both genetic and environmental reasons.