The Coronavirus Catastrophe

    COVID-19. Standing for COronaVIrus Disease 2019, the scientific name implies that the outbreak started in 2019, although most people didn't take this seriously until the start of 2020, the beginning of a new decade. If you are reading this and have no clue what I am talking about, or don't have something similar going on around you currently, consider yourself lucky.

    I had originally started this blog to keep myself busy during the lockdown, and to be able to do something that I had wanted to do for a long time while I had the chance.  Although this entire blog will not be about the pandemic, I would like to put a spotlight on the topic for at least one post. Being something that most people in the world are relating to currently, I thought it would be nice to share a little bit of my perspective on the effects of the pandemic and wait to see if any of you readers have anything to add on to what I say. Now rather than continuing to ramble on about WHY I am writing this post, let's ACTUALLY get on with it, shall we?

    This pandemic currently (as of October 3rd 2020 to be precise) does not have a vaccine available for it (unless you are reading this long after I have written it), although pharmaceutical companies are in the testing process, which has been sped up due to the urgent need for a cure. For a teen, the current situation is quite confusing and scary, since we don't see an end in sight. But at least we have ways to keep in touch with our friends even if we are not able to meet everyone the way we used to. Each country, state and city is handling the crisis in their own way. Some places have very strict restrictions whereas others not so much. Guess a lot depends on how harsh this pandemic has been to them. 

When this pandemic started ( or more like when we actually started to take it seriously), it had already caused havoc in parts of Asia and Europe. It was just starting to show up in the US. In March of this year, some state governments in the US started placing restrictions keeping safety of their people in mind. Everyone had to adapt to a new 'normal' overnight. Masks became a necessity and staying indoors was encouraged. Workplaces and schools couldn't operate like usual. These were different times, we were about to experience something that would change us and our perspective on a lot of things forever. Things we had perhaps taken for granted earlier - A simple hug, going to school on a bus early in the morning, a sleepover, a birthday party, a dinner in a restaurant, going to the movies, playing games, hanging out with friends, going to a museum or park - are now what we hope we can have back again someday in the future. Summer of 2020 has been a unique one. No travels, no visiting friends or family, no summer camps.  Wearing masks and keeping distance from people that dont live in the same house has become the new 'normal'. Not by choice, but by necessity. The need to remain safe for yourself and your loved ones makes it necessary to follow safety guidelines.

(Image courtesy : Vecteezy)

Different school districts have come up with different plans for the way they will handle the schooling for their students. Some are continuing with e-learning, some are doing a mix of e-learning and traditional school and calling it "hybrid". Although it is easy to say that no one is taking this event seriously and aren't working hard enough to overcome this, it is more important that we keep in mind that everybody is doing as much as they can to go back to normal. If everybody starts pointing fingers at each other, how will we work together to end this craziness?

Anyway, enough about craziness. The more we focus on the negatives, the more challenging it is going to be for us to move on and overcome. It is time we should start cheering ourselves up, be hopeful for the best and remain positive. Good things, good things. Hmmm.... Let's see what are some of the positives, what is it that we can appreciate and what we will no longer take for granted -

- There is less pollution than usual, the air is cleaner (That's a good start!)

- Science has advanced, so we are working faster to find a cure than we would have if this pandemic had happened a few decades ago

- Technology has advanced-Schools were already incorporating devices into work, so it wasn't that hard of a transition from traditional school to remote learning. Can you imagine what would have happened if this was 30 years earlier when even cellphones weren't around.

- There are now more online courses for people to keep learning even when they are not in school

- As long as people take the right precautions, they can still go to stores and restaurants, although not how they used to

- You can still meet with friends, as long as you are not meeting with too many people. At least we have phones and apps through which we can chat and see our friends.

- Some believe that this might be a lesson for people to learn that family and wellbeing are more important that anything.

    Those are some of the ways in which we can still appreciate current times, even with all of this uncertainty going on. See? It's not as bad as we think. And if you come up with more positive ideas to add to that list, comment on the post! I would love to hear from you!