Covid 19 as officially become a big part of life in the UK, no longer is it a faraway illness in China but a pressing issue right on our doorstep. So how are people feeling about it?
Covid 19 has taken 2020 by storm. Many will rightfully say that 2020 was already going badly – a possible world war 3 and a very possible recession in the second half of 2020. It's almost like Covid 19 is the icing on this cake of doom. No doubt Covid 19 is affecting far and wide. While it hasn’t been as dangerous as other pandemics in the 20th century it is still deeply affecting society today.
The thing with these pesky pandemics is that they affect more people than they will ever effect. It affects locally and nationally and globally. It grinds industries to halt and wreaks havoc on the stock market; stocks falling more than 20 percent from their peak just last month. It puts pressure on the government to fight a virus that they don’t know enough about. It makes every decision become received with unnecessary hysteria and panic of buying toilet paper that no one will ever need so much of.
However, for those not so close to the problem it is almost exciting. Not exciting that it harms people but exciting that it brings about change, it gives people something to sensationalize and feed off. It gives school kids the excitement of time of school and subsequently teachers the stress of managing lessons in isolation. It worries every holiday goer of the fate of their summer, for the more unfortunate they won’t get their money back. Deep down those thrumming in the excitement of days off can still worry, except not for themselves but for elderly relatives and friends. Its jarring too many to know their favorite music festivals and sports fixtures that indulge in will be cancelled.
It’s informative how we react to such situations, more just as people and communities but cities and countries. It offers an insight into what we value and our capability to deal with unforeseen circumstances. Many are commenting that the leading reason that Asia is dealing so well with this pandemic, is with their experience with previous pandemics such as SARs and MERs. In fact, as the number of cases continually rises in the UK Wuhan closes their last hospitals. Covid 19 has been an example for how we don’t learn from our mistakes. Is the UK following Italy’s footsteps despite all the additional knowledge the UK has had at its disposable? Does that mean we as people are dismissive of an incident until it happens to us? Or are we just arrogant that we know better than everyone else?
While many are comparing the virus to the common cold in terms of the ‘seriousness’ as it has a low mortality rate of 3% with its victims only being the whose major victims are the elderly, infants and those with pre-existing health conditions relating to their immune system. Others are protesting that the country should go on lockdown. The government is debating herd immunity because realistically speaking putting the country on lockdown is only feasible for so long and we don’t know how long the virus will last. Although further research suggests the virus is seasonal and with little transmission in the summer could disappear. Unfortunately, there is not much we know for certain yet so we must continue staying diligent with our hygiene.
