COVID-19 crisis has no precedent. We can be asymptomatic and yet be a carrier of infection, deadly and devastating. Undoubtedly, the exigencies of COVID-19 management are most urgent and dire; right now the focus is on the immediate solution, the relief and the rescue. And not on what we must learn for the future.
The rich world is experiencing deaths, which has world class hospitals and health infrastructure. Can’t imagine the scale of the human tragedy in the emerging-developing world where none of this exists or is available at cost. Due to Pandemic lock-down we are confined inside our homes feels like sitting in a fish tank at the bottom of the ocean. We are witnessing history break along a gigantic fault line that is making life itself tremble. This rupture promises us a hopeful future. Don’t give in to self-despair.
To die peacefully in one’s bed surrounded by loved ones and not in the tortured blue-white light of the ICU is an understandable human desire. Everyone hopes and expects decent last rites as it is all part of the final compromise with the unavoidable. People reconcile to the inevitability, even the unpredictability, of death. In the end it is all about “Dignity”.
The pandemic got out of control because of the blunders governments and their administrators made out of greed for power. Elections are often won by those who lie the most, those who play the epic soundtrack louder than others. But those same people cannot lead with wisdom. We have seen many examples of this phenomenon.
Under the onslaught of Covid-19, the details of departing trouble the mind. The harder challenge is psychological. How do you maintain your humanity in the face of so much dehumanizing death? Amid the crisis, the usually discreet network of humans entrusted with caring for our dead and helping us mourn has struggled. Now the things are very different for burials and cremations in pandemic. Social distancing regulations have made funerals lonely and rare. In the most basic sense, it is about preserving public health. This disaster has shown us many truths we’ve long ignored; it has also given us directions to our destination.
Hundreds are dying in the chilling anonymity of the isolation ward. Around the world overcrowded burial homes are letting bodies decay in trucks in parking lots and hospital premises. Thousands are being given mass burials. Fellow men are denying last rites to the dead for fear of infection. Children cannot attend funerals of parents. The grieving families have a deep fear that their loved one will get lost among the hundreds of corpses held in mortuary by the medical examiner’s office. There are unclaimed bodies too.
What we should be really thinking about is the collective vulnerability of our world. The most advanced and high-tech scientific establishments, the most macho leadership, the mighty world powers have all come together as collectively vulnerable to this unpredictable virus. If you want to protect yourself, you have to protect others. Selfish acts will kill you. People have realized perhaps for the first time and in such clear consciousness that they are part of a great flow called humanity.
It’s time for plain speak. There will be life after COVID-19. The hard fact is that we know we should have acted together and we did not. As feelings of “doomsday” creep into each household, it is important that we continue to find hope and positivity, even in the worst circumstances. Pollution and greenhouse gas emissions have fallen dramatically around the world. Each of us seems to be more willing to lend a helping hand when needed during these uncertain times.
The important thing about this time and making the most of it is tapping into your needs and realizing the extraordinary importance of preparation and your potential to care for yourself unapologetically and without the fear of time running out. The untutored, savage and opinionated verbiage of politics needs to make room for scientists and knowledge leaders. It is time we realized how important it is that we learn from the international experience of scientific experts on health and welfare practices. Humanity can be saved, only if ruled by reason; an awareness of common purpose must outweigh.
This disaster will be over and humankind will arrive at a new era. We need to narrow in on what really matters to us.