Something is severely afflicting humanity. The culprit is not a cascade of gigantic explosions of atomic bombs scattered around the planet or a global-scale war waged by a superpower country. Our current archenemy is a thing so small in size that our naked eyes cannot make out: a novel coronavirus with the official name SARS-CoV-2.
Most, if not all, of the countries in the world are presently being affected by this micro-entity, which, in huge numbers, causes a disease termed COVID-19. We are still battling this crown-shaped virus together and hoping to hurl the pandemic out of existence as soon as possible.
Indonesia is probably not one of the most heavily affected countries but it is still in the process of combating the pesky pestilence and Jakarta, the capital city as well as the country's economic hub, has been hit by the deadliest blow, with 2,335 confirmed cases and 241 deaths by Tuesday, April 14, 2020. As a denizen in this Homo floresiensis-yielding land who happens to reside in the metropolis, I have to practice social distancing and do my job by WFH. With all the haunting boredom and solitude, these days certainly are not the happiest in my life, but all of us need to unite and be responsible for not only ourselves, but also other people by following what authorities such as WHO advise and recommend, among which are washing hands properly and wearing masks.
During this quarantine period, a philosophical idea pierced through my brain with regard to the harrowing reality. We humans are fragile creatures, teetering on a precarious stage of life. A gust of wind such as this crazy little thing called the COVID-19 virus can make us tremble and topple over into the abyss of non-existence. We are certainly not a species endowed with an endless list of superior qualities; this global disaster really underscores how feeble we can be in the face of another resident of our planet.
Having said that, this should not discourage or even stop us from taking the necessary course of action to stamp out the predicament. If we are to survive as a species, our communal efforts to resolve this issue must be our top priority. We also have to give an enormous thank you and show great respect to all healthcare professionals, on whom we hugely rely to put an end to this worrisome situation. I believe many medical researchers are racing to develop a vaccine that can be used to halt this crisis too (let's keep our fingers crossed for its success). It is strongly urged that we give the required support to these people and the like who are scientifically involved in extirpating this dire state by whatever means we can employ.
The viral paroxysm is like a double-edged sword. It truly is devastating the human race by inflicting the disease on its members; however, it has also had a positive impact on Earth. For example, NASA stated that there has been a 30% reduction in the amount of air pollution in the Northeastern US due to some sort of lockdown imposed on the people living in the region. On a personal level, I feel that it is probably a moment to explore the many things that we could have done but haven't. Take reading for example. This is perhaps the
It seems to me that by the time this pandemic is over, a massive change will have occurred in the conduct of our society. Let's be hopeful that it will turn out to be positive, but the focus should be us ourselves because we, as always, are the assembling units: nothing more and nothing less.
Extra paragraph: Reading during this adverse situation reinforced my thought of how amazing the role that our imagination plays in our life. Our mighty brain processes the modest signals that we receive, whether they are ink impressions on paper sheets or sounds emitted by the vocal cords of our fellow humans, to create another realm of "reality" which we base our acts upon. This is, at least to me, absolutely mind-blowing and it is likely something many of us do not realize.
