This novel coronavirus disease-2019 (Covid-19) is starting to get into my nerves. This might be true for all. It has been the hottest topic for the past three months or so, with no signs of abating. It is getting worse before things get better. It is constricting our lives and is making the world smaller every day. Really, it is not funny anymore.
The thing with the Covid-19 is that it is an unseen enemy. It is not like the zombies or the walking dead that you can shoot on sight. It is not like the cockroach that you can step on or the mosquito that you can swat. Instead, it is like the wind. You cannot see it but you know it is there. You cannot hold it but you can feel its debilitating effect. It is like a thief that is swift and treacherous. It is a microscopic particle that knows no boundaries and respects no authority.
The dangerous aspect about the virus is that nobody is immune from it. Anybody is vulnerable to its symptom. And when one is afflicted, it might spell doom. Yes, that is what makes it frightening. The prospect of contracting the disease is high. Already, many countries, including the Philippines, are closing their borders and locking down cities in the hope of containing an epidemic. They are doing this as a preventive measure because for the moment, there is no known cure for the infection.
The Covid-19 marches on. It is ripping apart one country at a time. It is moving forward faster than a blitzkrieg. It is akin to an immovable force that knows no limits. It transcends borders and victimizes all regardless of age, sex, creed, and political inclination. Even our vaunted senators and member of the Lower House, who have a penchant for investigating everything from money to criminality to health to showbiz are helpless and clueless. They, too, are gripped with fear because they know that notwithstanding their positions, they are prone to the infection.
The fear of getting infected has everyone changing their lives and lifestyles. The Covid-19 is compromising our everyday routines. Already, traditions are being dropped and beliefs are being altered. The scare and the panic that is wrought by the virus are making us less human.
As human beings, we are social creatures. We need to socialize, to be where the action is. We need to interact in such ways that we can express our emotions and our ideas. We need to be happy and secure with the people around us. However, in the name of safety, we have to stop doing these.
For instance, we are advised to avoid kissing and hugging because closeness transmits the disease. We are told to maintain at least a one-meter distance from one another to prevent getting infected. We are chastised not to hold hands or go into crowded places lest we become hosts for the virus. It is worst in other areas. People in Italy, China, and South Korea are being locked up. Pray to God that it does not happen here, although there are already proposals that it might lead to that. If that happens, how would we live?
Oh my, what kind of creature is the Covid-19 that it is starting to break our hearts, our families, and our traditions? I cannot help but become doubtful about the reason of it all. Why would God, in all of His bounden wisdom, allow such tragedy to befall His beloved creatures? To punish us for our sins? To cleanse the world? To remind us that He is in control? Or, is the devil getting the better of our human nature? Is this part of the test that we need to go through to toughen us against bigger and larger confrontations against the unknown?
On second thought, God is not in the midst of this trouble. This travail is solely the responsibility of humans. For so long, we have desecrated nature, raped the environment, and exploited the Earth. It is only natural that it will fight back. The Covid-19 is one-way nature defends itself against an abusive race.
Whatever, I think that we deserve something better. We deserve to live in a world free from guilt and fear. Free from the coronavirus that has gripped our lives and is changing us in ways that we do not want.
September 10, 2024
