The corona virus has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The global media panic is high and governments internationally are acting hard and fast. Borders have closed down, schools, colleges and theatres across the world have been shut (at least let us watch movies!). We are in the middle of a global crackdown. Is this the apocalypse? Probably not. The world has seen several influenza pandemics before including the 1918 Flu, Hong Kong Flu, Russian Flu etc – yes millions of people died but the world still survived these and will probably survive COVID-19 too. What is different this time? several things including our beloved social media. Amid the corona panic, there are a few lessons to be learnt.
Lesson 1: Grandmothers are always right
Remember your grandmother telling you to wash your hands and stop touching your face? Well it turns out the seemingly small advice can go a long way in saving you from pandemics. The WHO, United National (UN), governments, doctors, and all famous people have one primary thing to say about the Corona prevention: WASH YOUR HANDS. If you wash your hands well and often, you can reduce the risk of catching the virus – especially if you don’t touch your face. As the virus will not be injected inside you even if you come in contact of someone who might have it. Somewhere lurking behind the TV is my grandmother’s ‘I told you so’ eye brows.
Lesson 2: Being anti-social is healthy
Let’s be clear, I am an extrovert. I love going out and meeting people but a lot of my very close friends are hardcore introvert, bordering anti-social people. They don’t leave the den unless they just have to (or I drag them out). They are pleased. The world is now saying – stay home, don’t go out, don’t shop, don’t meet people, keep a distance of 1m even from your partner. Isolation is the single biggest mass prevention measure being taken by governments world over for Corona. Offices world over have asked their staff to opt for remote work, the government has banned any mass gatherings or conferences. The message is clear: if you can stay alone, you might save yourself… and others.
Lesson 3: Social media will #kill us, Social media will #save us
For me, the most interesting thing about this particular influenza pandemic is that it is happening in the age of social media. This means a daily quota of memes on Corona (some of them hilarious), knowing fully well what Tom Hanks and his wife are doing on their quarantine-cation, getting hourly health advice from WHO and WHF (WhatsAPP heaven of Fiction), and having alarm bells ringing with not-so-breaking news every minute. It is useful to stay updated on world updates, WHO advisories and also stay in touch with your friends and family who might be stuck abroad. However, as always there is a dark side of social media that is full of panic and fake health advisories, which can be quite damaging to a sensitive situation. But of course, keep those memes comin’ – no seriously some light humour helps in the time of Corona (or no Corona).
Lesson 4: We don’t care if our kids die
The Corona panic has shown us that it is possible for us to skip that travel, that commute, that trip to the theatre, that shopping and the list goes on. Offices who swear by important meetings and travels have moved to remote working indefinitely till the panic stops. All governments around the world have curbed travels. This has hit economy and business globally, but someone is happy: the earth. If this goes on long enough, then who knows maybe we can even stop the climate crisis? It seems like we as humans don’t worry about our kids dying 100 years later but if you tell me I can die tomorrow from a flu, I will shut everything down. We must rethink the whole Climate Crisis PR campaign.
As the outbreak unfolds, stay tuned on this blog for more corona lessons.