COVID-19: 12 Days in Lockdown

I hope you are doing well in this crisis. As we observe, there is some good news. COVID-19 remains mostly controlled in South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, and even China. There are some positive signs in other countries too. People think these are the magic of some preventive measures, such as ‘lockdowns’ and ’social distancing’.  But there are challenges too to implement these measures in many countries.

It has been 12 days, our country, in fact, the whole world, is under coronavirus lockdown. It is a unique experience for us. Many of us may not take this long break at work in our whole life. It is hard for many to go without the usual work. We can feel how a retiree feels. This invisible crisis is creating a lot of confusion, panic, despair, and fear. During this time, some other positive things are also happening, such as people are working together to combat this pandemic, dropping pollution levels, reducing traffic fatalities, among other things like decreased crime and intangibles like people reconnecting with family and spending quality time with their children. However, we must not get complacent as the crisis enters its most critical phase. We also need to understand that the challenges ahead are severe in many cases, e.g., economic, social, and political. People are talking about upcoming economic recessions and increasing violence against women. But we have to learn from our mistakes and should equip ourselves to face the existential risks of the future. Considering its global consequences, I think, like many others, the world will come back stronger than before.