COVID-19 is bringing out the worst in us
You would think a disease of such proportions would bring people together, that it would educate or teach us how to be better but instead, in many cases, it’s bringing out the worst in us.
We’re turning against each other in the midst of a pandemic and I dread that little voice in my head that continues to whisper It might get worse because I know it will unless people calm down. There is a very big difference between assessing matters with calm and taking things lightly.
Instead of physically isolating ourselves, we’re actually shutting in from other people through lies, manipulation and withholding crucial information that could lead to infecting even more people.
We’re making provisions with money we don’t actually have without thinking about others. We’re sick and we’re going out in the world because apparently, to some, quarantine is scarier than death. And surprisingly, it takes a pandemic to teach us basic hygiene rules we should have had instilled in us since early childhood.
In the residential complex where I live, specialized medical teams arrived a few days ago to test someone who called in sick. As you can imagine, fear started rearing out its ugly head in search of blame.
Who is the person?
Why weren’t we informed of this? What are we going to do?
Great! Now they’re going to get us infected too.
Is the complex taking any measures?
Tell us who is sick! The name and the apartment number.
Last time I checked, we still had a right to privacy and basic human decency. I really couldn’t understand people’s reactions but then again, it makes sense why some people are intimidated into keeping quiet and refusing to ask for help. Reactions such as these don’t speak of solidarity.
They express helplessness, excessive worry, selfishness, and ignorance. The person took the right counteractive precautions. They called in sick, waiting for the team to arrive and remained indoors while waiting for further instructions. Instead of commending safe conduct, we’re stomping on our reason and are complacent to fear.
On the one hand, we have people stocking up on flour, oil, and disinfectant. Toilet paper is a prized holy grail as well, nowadays. People’s state of panic has led to us staring at empty shelves in supermarkets, contemplating whether we’re living through a bad dream or simply witnessing how desperation looks like at the hands of people who believe that buying 30 bottles of sanitizing gel will help them overcome a problem that spreads quicker than any living virus.
On the other hand, we have some whose idea of quarantine signifies giving in to your social needs just as frequently as before. People still looking to go to clubs, parents bringing their kids to parks and playgrounds, old people never missing the Sunday service even though a crisis such as this should absolve you into God’s eyes if you choose to pray at home instead of crowding into large groups under a church’s roof.
So what should we do when panic and mass hysteria are more contagious than the virus itself?
People’s ignorance might kill us sooner than the disease itself, however, there is still hope out there. Compared to Italy, for instance, there are governments who have gone against said example and have adopted measures quickly.
After all, fear is a double-edged sword in this case. We all saw the repercussions of not taking the danger seriously: people are sorted out and not everyone makes the cut. Medical personnel is outnumbered. Doctors are sleepless.
What’s left for us to do is to be responsible. Stay indoors if possible. Wash our hands the correct way. Abide by the rules. Play our part. And perhaps have some hope. Because hope is what gives us the strength to stay at home trapped between four walls as we count the days of an unknown sentence.
Either way, this crisis will teach us something.
Perhaps we’ll learn how it is to ration food better, how to be more careful with hygiene and how to protect ourselves. In the midst of anxiety and panic, I have also seen solidarity and kindness which means that we have every reason to be hopeful.
We’re all afraid but that is no excuse to idolize our surviving instincts to the point of self-destruction. I have faith in humanity and I believe that in the midst of panic, we’ll get inspired to survive by giving and not by taking.
Day 14 of isolation: Grateful things aren’t worse.
