What to expect from Covid.
I read worrying news that Covid is on the rise again in China, the country whose experiences in the latest infection control seem to be the lodestar for the rest of the world. New outbreaks, more infectious, with a super-spreader at the centre, requiring the tracing and testing of literally hundreds, then thousands, of people. Elsewhere, there are sporadic outbreaks in countries that have previously managed to keep their outbreaks under control. More infectious may not mean more deadly, but it’s all to be seen.
And what can we do? I’m not sure what to expect from Covid. It seems that, if we pursue the Scottish objective to its logical conclusion, the hope is that Covid will be eradicated here. There are some smaller countries that have managed eradication, presumably at the cost of not allowing travel beyond a radius of say, ten miles, controlling cross-border movement and so on: difficult to maintain, though presumably cross-border controls will continue to be necessary for a fixed or limited period – a year, six months? – and then gradually, we may hope to see them lifted, as part of a package of measures including widespread testing, quarantine arrangements for those who have to travel and eventually, an effective vaccine.
Meantime, here we all sit each of us alone and together as our family circumstances dictate, waiting to hear, and increasingly dependent on our on-line tools for social and business interaction. I worry most about our children, who cannot be expected to learn everything from their carers, no matter how well balanced or optimistic the adults around them might be, and who rely on people from outside their family circle to evolve and develop socially.
I am puzzled by the ramifications of losing physical sharing, laughter and picnics in the park, and I have to hope that life can resume, eventually, allowing us to emerge into daylight, in groups, and sharing hugs, whispered secrets and good times.
Thanks for listening.
Please share:
July 1, 2020 @ 10:08 pm
Fran, I have to say I count myself blessed that I live in a country where we haven’t been locked down. But every country has to deal with the situation in the way it feels is best. My fear for those who’ve been severely locked down is that they’ll be more vulnerable because of lack of exposure. We’ve been through several pandemics since the Spanish flu in 1918, and indeed several in my lifetime. I was severely ill with the Hong Kong flu in 1968, which by the time it had run its course killed more than a million people and may have been as many as four million. I also had the Mexican flu in 2009. However, this is the first time we’ve had lockdowns, so it remains to be seen if it protects people significantly or leaves us still more at risk in the long term. It’s a very hard call to make.
July 1, 2020 @ 11:12 pm
Hi Val, Thanks for your comments! It is indeed a hard call to make, and getting harder as the peculiar ramifications of Covid become clearer in the medium term. It seems to me that we are having to adjust all our expectations, and that we should be repurposing and reorganising a great deal of existing capacity for use in other ways: shopping centres, restaurant space, hotel space and entertainment venues… Who knows how or when these will return to their original purpose? Meantime, there are other useful things we could do with them. But inevitably, it takes a while for human processes to catch up with what’s happening and make sense of it. Bless you. I do hope the situation in the Netherlands is okay. My eldest sister is back in the Hague, and relieved to be there. Xxx