Within the past week there has been a seismic shift in all of our daily lives as the Coronavirus (COVID-19) has become a full blown pandemic. Daily life as we use to know it has almost completely disappeared and we are now being forced to reconcile with the fact that we may not get back to how things were for some time, as steps are taken worldwide to curb the spread of the virus.
Everyday since it was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization I feel like I have been on a crazy nonstop roller coaster. I struggle with a pretty severe anxiety condition that leads me to not leaving my house much and obsessing over all sorts of rational and irrational thoughts and worries. One of those being that I get really sick and need to be hospitalized, I have a huge problem dealing with health issues and going to doctors or the ER. So, a global plague as you can imagine has sent my anxiety into overdrive, and I know I am not alone. Everyday I feel a small throat scratch, or feel more tired than yesterday and I immediately start fearing I may have contracted the virus. My mood ebbs and flows but overall I feel as if I am living in a waking nightmare, the world seems to be collapsing all around me and there is no end in sight and not much I can personally do to control it, except obsessively washing my hands every five seconds.
The most bizarre thing is how a large portion of the population sees this as just another flu and nothing to get excited about. This past weekend everyone was out partying it up like it was any other weekend, not realizing that many people are asymptomatic and spread the virus to others unknowingly. Spreading to people who may have compromised immune systems or underlying health conditions that make it easier for the virus to make them deathly sick. Although most states have now closed all bars and restaurants indefinitely, which brings up another side effect of the virus: the economy collapse. People are losing their jobs in droves, business are closing and production lines are halting. Millions of people no longer have a next paycheck coming and are being told to stay home in a house or apartment that they may no longer be able to pay rent or mortgage on.
Strange new times we find ourselves living in, the new normal is uncertainty, and maybe it always was. The world is an even more dangerous place than it was yesterday, however, in desperate times like these the strength of the human race can also blossom. There is a sense that we are all in this together and that we should shed our petty differences in order to work to lessen the blow, to share the load and to help one another emerge on the other side of this pandemic a unified species. Hopefully some real good will come out of this onslaught we are under by this awful microscopic menace.