Barely a few months ago, I was counting down to 2019 and couldn’t help but think about how 2020 would be yet another new year, laden with opportunities to learn new skills and develop myself as a person, as well as to improve my social life and friendships.
Little did I, or rather we, know that there would be an extremely dangerous and hazardous virus starting on Earth, known as COVID-19. All our plans to go out were thrown into a state of uncertainty and, while the situation didn’t seem as precarious in the early stages, the virus has escalated, with Italy particularly being badly hit and having an alarming mortality rate of about 9 per cent, higher than the global average.
So why is the virus so deadly? Unlike the common flu or influenza, drugs don’t work against COVID-19 and whether a person survives or not is ultimately dependent on how strong his or her immune system is.
That besides the point, COVID-19 has sown a lot of discord and thrown the whole world into disarray. There has been a series of problems in daily life as a result of the virus.
First and foremost, there has been division in the world - mainly discrimination against racial groups and healthcare workers. Jonathan Mok, a Singaporean student from University College London, was attacked by a few British teenagers, one of whom shouted at Mok, "I don't want your coronavirus in your country". Moreover, Donald Trump has labelled the virus the "China virus" in various of his tweets and sparked off a lot of controversy.
Another problem posed is the shocking discrimination against healthcare workers because people are afraid of contracting the disease if they are in close contact with them. Nurses all around the world are being shunned because people are afraid that they have the virus. It isn’t an easy situation for them because they have to work longer hours and risk their lives for the sake of the well-being of the country. In Singapore, some nurses had to sacrifice their Chinese New Year holidays in order to treat patients. The hostile treatment they get on public transport and while they are commuting back in their uniforms doesn’t help the situation. If hostile stares and physical distancing from nurses in uniform aren’t bad enough, there have been stories on social media of members of the public chasing nurses out of public transport and refusing to take the lift with them, with one nurse even being asked by a neighbour to take the stairs from the second floor. In the US, various nurses have been forced to move out of their houses by their landlords and have been turned down by Airbnb hosts. In fact, one nurse from New Hampshire lamented that nurses are now seen as walking Petri-dishes.
While such harsh treatment towards nurses is certainly unexcusable, the situation basically sums up the fact that all of us are fearing for our own safety. Unfortunately, rather than uniting us, this fear divides all of us and causes some individuals to be selfish.
While the nurses are taking care of the patients in a direct way, what we can do is help the nurses in an indirect way by minimising the time we spend outdoors because that is what will ultimately curtail the spread of diseases and in the long run, it will alleviate the burden on them because less manpower and resources will be needed to take care of the patients. It isn’t just nurses who are sacrificing themselves for us; there are also others like cleaners, taxi drivers, public transport staff, delivery workers and supermarket staff who are working so hard behind the scenes. One of the most heartwarming scenes was on 30th March 2020, when Singaporeans shouted messages of gratitude to all these workers as part of a movement known as Clap for #SGUnited. These workers are so undervalued; they are risking their lives to keep the country running and functioning but rarely do they get the appreciation for what they do. In fact, as mentioned earlier, many of them may be avoided or given hostile treatment instead of gratitude. Hence, it was an awesome movement to give them some well-deserved appreciation for their hard work.
Moving on to the personal domain, a lot of things have been affected. A lot of clubs, societies and religious organisations have had to close down and move their sessions online. It has been disappointing not to be able to attend sessions just like I could before, and social interaction has by far and large decreased. As a football fan, I sadly don’t have any Premier League matches to look forward to during the weekends after the season was postponed until at least 30th April, and I’ve honestly forgotten what it’s like to watch 90 minutes of live football. In fact, once Arsenal’s manager Mikel Arteta became the first person involved in the Premier League to be tested positive, there was no other way this was going.
With Singapore’s latest social distancing law kicking in on 27th March, the situation is getting really serious and it may seem repressive on us not being able to go out. It’s natural to feel this way since we’re all social creatures. It seems hard on us not to be able to go about our daily activities as per normal.
However, as much as we can’t change the gravity of the situation and aren’t in control of the numbers that appear on the news, we can always change our perspective on the situation and find ways to improve it. On the aspect of social distancing, it need not necessarily be social distancing in terms of completely shutting ourselves away from the world, but more so about physical distancing from the people around us. Instead of physical meetups, we can always text message or video call each other. This is an extremely effective substitute because we can still interact with our friends or colleagues without putting ourselves at risk of contracting, or even unknowingly spreading, the virus.
This is also a good time for us to take a step back, slow down and spend time with our families. Many a time, we promise to make time for them but most of these promises aren’t fulfilled. Now that we are encouraged to stay at home and refrain from going out other than absolutely necessary purposes, there is no excuse for us to not spend time with our families. It’s not just about spending time with our families, but it’s also about taking time to connect with ourselves and develop a relationship with ourselves.
There are so many ideas on how we can make the best out of the situation, as much as it is unpleasant. However, the stories of inconsiderate people mean that no matter how much preventive measures we take other than staying at home, there is still a risk of contracting the disease. Of course, things like wearing a mask or washing hands regularly will reduce the danger, but there is still a chance, and even people who appear well may have the virus because it could take up to 14 days before any symptoms develop, or they may simply be inconsiderate and insist on going out. Take the example of the Korean lady known as the “crazy ajumma” (crazy auntie in Korean) who attended church twice and refused to be tested twice before being finally forced to do so by health officials. As a result, her church became an epicentre for COVID-19 cases and at least half of the cases in the country are linked to the church. All it takes is for one person to behave selfishly, and a snowball effect will inevitably occur.
There are so many ideas on how we can look inwards instead of outwards. Instead of going to the gym, we can do static exercises at home. Rather than going to a fancy restaurant with our loved ones, we can cook a nice meal at home. Instead of worrying so much about “what happens next?” in a fast-paced world and society today, we can take a step back and slow down and connect with ourselves and take time to genuinely rest and connect with the present. Staying at home need not necessarily be a bad thing, and can indeed prove to be a blessing in disguise. In fact, Nike even encouraged us to play for the world and play inside and that we are one team more than ever. Even though we have our personal boundaries, we must put these aside and remember that we are all together fighting the virus. If we want to take it one step further, we can donate money or offer supplies to those in need in such dire times.
One role model during this period is NBA star Russell Westbrook, who made a donation to a fund that helps hard-hit families in Los Angeles and cited his reason for doing so as wanting to help as many people as possible immediately, and give them a glimmer of hope in a turbulent period. On top of that, he has also taken advantage of what would normally be a very busy period for NBA players, by spending time with his wife and three children, and helping his wife run errands that he would have been unable to do should the season have been continued. On his Instagram account, beside the photo of the advertisement for Nike, he showed a picture of him playing basketball at home with his son.
The bottom line for this is that life can still go on even during the pandemic and despite all the limitations, there is a silver lining in them and there are various ways to work around them. For one, schools in Singapore are using home based learning once a week and various companies are getting their employees to work from home. On top of that, many clubs and societies are continuing their meetings, just that they are online.
To sum up, we may not be able to control the virus, but what we can do is improve what is within our control and make the best out of it. The caption that we are one team more than ever before by Nike couldn’t be a more fitting one, as all of us are together in fighting the virus. It is also important that we be kind to others around us, be it by spreading messages of care and concern to our loved ones or just being warm and friendly to healthcare workers instead of shunning them; we may be fearing for our lives, but we musn’t forget that they are human beings as well who are also fearing for their lives and at an even greater risk of getting the virus.
Let us all remain united in the fight against the disease and the Liverpool Football Club (which happens to be my favourite football team too) theme song “You’ll Never Walk Alone” would be an excellent one to remind us that we’re fighting this together. In fact, in Europe, around 180 radio stations played the song together in a show of solidarity against the virus, and a video of National Health Service staff singing the song together in a hospital in England moved Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp to tears.
With that, walk on, through the rain, with hope in your heart, and you’ll never walk alone!
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