The Scene staff
Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last month, you know about the wave of hysteria that has swept over the world.
Coronavirus, which causes the respiratory illness COVID-19, has spread from Wuhan, China, to almost all major countries. More than 1.2 million people have tested positive, and more than 67,000 have died. The United States is the country with the most cases, more than 324,000.
These are frightening times for two reasons.
The first is obvious: A deadly virus has infected Planet Earth like something out of a blockbuster Hollywood movie starring Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. News programs don’t cover anything but the pandemic, and for people stuck at home with nothing to do but watch the news, it’s easy to fall into a state of paranoia.
Many news outlets are choosing to fear monger instead of go the optimistic route. Bashing President Trump seems to be more popular than ever, and some outlets, especially CNN, are using the pandemic as a way to further their narratives.
Besides inciting fear, the virus is impacting millions of people in a very personal way. “Social distancing” has made gatherings of more than 10 people taboo. Jobs are being lost at an incredible rate. Layoffs are sometimes a company’s only way of staying afloat. Restaurants are among the businesses being hurt the most.
The lucky people are able to work from home and suffer only the tight grip of boredom. The unlucky are stranded with no job and no way to pay for housing and food.
A $2 trillion federal stimulus package has been approved and other efforts are being made to help those who are suffering economically, but it’s yet to be seen if this will give them the relief they need and deserve.
So the question on my mind is this: Is this whole thing as big of a deal as the news is making it out to be? That may sound ignorant, but I’m just really not a big fan of government interference in my everyday life.
Obviously, I understand that all of these actions (stay-at-home orders, the closing of “non-essential” businesses, etc.) are being taken for the safety of myself and others, but is it really worth destroying our economy? Not to mention the thousands of lives that are being ruined.
To put it another way, does the end justify the means?
We’ve all seen the memes about grocery store shelves being emptied by crazy doomsday preparers and middle-aged women. Toilet paper is now more rare than gold for some reason. Companies that make hand sanitizer seem be the only businesses prospering during these times; all of their stocks disappear almost immediately.
Personally, the virus hasn’t affected me that much. I’m already an introvert, so staying home isn’t especially difficult for me.
However, my reclusiveness only goes so far. I yearn to leave the house and do something besides sleep, eat and sit around all day. But with everything closed, there isn’t much to do even if you go out in the world.
“Shelter in place” has given me a chance to catch up on my interests and hobbies, like playing video games, reading and writing. But as time goes on, I miss going to school and meeting new people. Classes are being taught online, so I can no longer walk the halls of my college and enjoy the little things that I used to take for granted.
Hopefully, this will all change soon, but I doubt it.
The hysteria is confusing to me, since the ability to beat sickness is relatively common in the modern world. Not that coronavirus isn’t life-threatening; it is. But it’s not like the Black Death, also known as the Great Bubonic Plague, in the 1300s that killed more than 25 million people by many estimates.
Several COVID-19 vaccines are being tested right now. At one point, Trump spoke of life returning to normal by Easter, although he later backed away from that optimistic prediction.
In fact, the situation seems to be getting more and more dire by the day. When I heard that coronavirus had infected its one-millionth person in the world, it even startled me, somebody who hasn’t been taking it that seriously.
No matter how silly I find myself feeling by keeping a distance of 6 feet away from people at the supermarket, I no longer have any rationale to justify not being careful. I still view the public’s reaction to the pandemic as overblown, but it’s getting easier to see why.
I will continue to keep a positive outlook, and I hope you will, too. Try to follow the guidelines our scientists have laid out. Keep a distance of at least 6 feet away from other humans, and if it’s possible, don’t go out at all.
We’ll just have to play the waiting game for now. However, I have all the faith in the world that we’ll get through this. Humans are an adaptable species, and this is no different than some of the other big challenges our species has had to face over thousands of years. We will survive.