Give easy on covid 19
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ESSAY ON COVID - 19
The effects of COVID-19, or future variants thereof, are not be treated lightly.
The virus is set to impact many lives and must be fought and overcome. However, paralysing panic will not generate the solutions we need.
Before we examine what, if anything, we might take from the current health threat, let’s establish some basic facts, as we know them.
The virus likely emerged in the animal kingdom. Some have speculated that it might have originated among bats, which have unique immune systems. Whatever the origin, the virus spread from animal to animal before it eventually found its first human host.
This is important to remember, especially in light of attempts by some people to read political messages into COVID-19’s emergence.
Various governments may be more or less prepared to deal with viral outbreaks, but no administration can guarantee its citizenry complete immunity from wild-card diseases.
At the time of writing, entire regions in Italy are effectively cut off from the outside world as governments attempt to contain the virus.
Meanwhile, even in relatively “quiet zones” for the disease, celebrities and even government heads and ministers have tested positive and are heading into self-isolation.
Hand-shaking has become far less common; hand-washing far more so.
So, what are we as individuals and families to make of the situation going forward?
It has been said that hope is not a strategy when we face a problem. That’s true, but hope at least puts us in the frame of mind to develop a strategy.
This disease is no blessing - far from it - and we must be vigilant and show compassion to those who are directly affected by it. That said, the current emergency might afford us the chance to re-evaluate some things.
Modern life being what it is, we have precious few opportunities for reflection.
For those of us who have chosen, or been instructed, to work from home, digital technology has much to offer in terms of virtual conferencing and the like.
Multi-screening is all the rage. Yet, Stanford University has found that while it presents us with more information, it reduces our ability to decide which data is relevant to the question at hand.
Constant use of social media reveals how many interesting individuals we could know but don’t. This leaves many of us with uncomfortable feeling that we’re somehow falling short.
These effects are not uniquely internet-related. The same outcomes can be seen when we expose ourselves to too many stimuli in any form - online or offline.
Facing an abundance of information and contacts, in real-time and in the cybersphere, we curiously still find ourselves experiencing FOMO, the infamous fear of missing out. It’s a weird but very real form of anxiety.
Meanwhile, our general rush to pursue financial security and often idealised lifestyle goals can lead us to “desacrilise” life. We lose our sense of being “set apart”, which is the true meaning of “sacred”.
I’ve been asked several times over the past few years, on programmes like BBC Breakfast, whether we should allow all-hours shopping across the Christmas period.
The fact is that setting aside certain days for reflection helps not only individuals but society as a whole. It allows us to assimilate everything that's going on in our individual lives, our relationships and our wider world.
Psychologists talk about the fact that our thinking becomes eve more shallow if we're constantly switched on and rushing about. There are clear signs that stress in the workplace is increasing today, partly because people can’t switch off out of hours.
"COVID-19 is most definitely not our friend. Yet neither is paralysing panic. Moreover, we can choose to see a degree of self-isolation as an opportunity to pull back from constant over-stimulation and stress."
Hence the moves by some of Europe's largest companies to switch off individual work-based email accounts when their people leave the office each day. Work-related stress is costing companies big money through lost productivity.
Yet the true cost of over-stretched lives, in terms of emotions, mental health, families and friendships, will never be reflected in mere monetary metrics.
COVID-19 is most definitely not our friend. Yet neither is paralysing panic.
Moreover, we can choose to see a degree of self-isolation as an opportunity to pull back from constant over-stimulation and stress.
Hopefully, a cure for COVID-19 will soon be found and it will not have time to mutate further. In the meantime, let’s ensure that our precious lives do not pass by unexamined.