Well, it's not a secret that the government―and to be fair, many governments―dropped the ball on COVID-19. Nor that responsibility for it has been thrown back at us, the masses.
What's not so much acknowledged is that in tone the measures we're being told to take are more punitive than prophylactic. I mean, yes, it's good practice to wash your hands frequently, cough into your elbow rather than your hand, maybe keep a bottle of hand sanitizer handy. But if you do all that you find out that...it makes no difference. You still can't go anywhere, do anything, talk to anybody. Proximity within six feet is considered a borderline violent offense, and we're being conditioned to see ourselves and our neighbors as filthy disease vectors more than people.
So yes, I do worry about the effects that it's having.
What's not so much acknowledged is that in tone the measures we're being told to take are more punitive than prophylactic. I mean, yes, it's good practice to wash your hands frequently, cough into your elbow rather than your hand, maybe keep a bottle of hand sanitizer handy. But if you do all that you find out that...it makes no difference. You still can't go anywhere, do anything, talk to anybody. Proximity within six feet is considered a borderline violent offense, and we're being conditioned to see ourselves and our neighbors as filthy disease vectors more than people.
So yes, I do worry about the effects that it's having.
2 comments:
You're absolutely correct in your assessment of the current major problem in that it's not so much the virus or its inherent danger, but that the reaction to this particular communicable disease has been a massive overreaction largely fueled by the internet (talk about going viral) and the media (gotta get them clicks). It may comfort you to know the disease is being treated differently, and more successfully, in S. Korea, Japan, Sweden, Cuba by better overall testing and keeping the largely unaffected populations employed and in school while caring for those who are actually ill.
There are some signs that much of the hysteria will soon abate when people realize this isn't the plague, Ebola, smallpox, or TB. In fact, this virus appears to be quite mild compared to those other pandemics. The world has seen a lot of major illnesses that we've lived through while still being kind to one another. I think that's the big one, isn't it? We're grieving the loss of normal community. You're not alone in this. People don't just enjoy being in one another's company, but it's something we need.
Meanwhile, we hope you're well. We'll talk soon.
When I'm online - which I happen to be quite a bit of the time, a consequence of being mostly housebound - I've been tending to avoid current events. Some glances at the news to see what's open under which conditions, but I'm taking a hiatus from political blogs and much of the media. It seems to be the same thing over and over again. Nonetheless I'm glad to know that there are places in the world handling this thing better. Japan still has to reschedule the Olympics, but the games are a pretty big disruption in themselves in terms of traffic and the effect on people's daily lives. Maybe it's good they have another year to prepare.
The hysteria will probably go on a little longer since there have been a few high profile deaths, although how much of a factor the coronavirus really was among other conditions is an open question. And the fact that many of the people counted among "mounting cases" have already recovered tends to get lost. I do hope things get less hostile out there. While I'm definitely an introvert, as Bowie said, "I never thought I'd need so many people."
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