In Coronavirus Times, Women Calling the Shots Lift My Spirits

The COVID-19 catastrophe has brought out the worst in many of us, so I tried to look for hope. I found it in women leaders saying what we needed to hear. And maybe you need to hear it too.

As I start writing this post, I try to recall the exact day when I told my mom, who lives many miles away from the United States, in Peru, that “everything is going to be fine. We barely have cases here…” But I can’t tell. It feels like half a year ago, but I’m pretty sure it was in February. (Yeah, I do wake up thinking it’s July already.)

Today the United States is headed to become the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has upended modern life as we know it — with lockdowns in dozens of countries, India being the latest addition.

As hell broke lose in the past two weeks, anxiety and a bit of frustration have been my loyal companions. Not because of the self-quarantined I’ve imposed myself or the working-from-home new routine, but the insanity unfolding before my eyes. For example, some of the world leaders' first reactions to this crisis on this side of the hemisphere. My fellow humans, this is THE ONE time we absolutely have to listen to the scientists, if we want to get through this. But then you run into the following: