This whole Coronavirus is a mess. It is becoming an endless cycle of; infected, suffering and finally, death.
Some got infected and survived, others got indirectly affected by losing their loved ones and others are just simply bottling up their anxiety. It is no doubt that “coronavirus” has been the buzzword these past few weeks.
Coronavirus this and coronavirus that, infected people, death, economy flops, small business closing – this is all we have been hearing. Plain negativity. And while this situation is severely bad, sometimes we just need to find that silver lining.
The situation in China and Italy
Mother nature is taking back what is hers and the world is telling us to stop and slow down. Nobody asked for this, we did not need this pandemic, but the world needed it. The pollution maps are the first clear signs that show how much the world needed this. Take China, as a prime example to support my claim, with millions of fewer cars on the roads and fewer production facilities working, the pollution above China has decreased drastically. An estimated 1,400 to 4,000 kids under 5 years of age, and 51,700 to 73,000 adults over 70 years of age have been saved from pollution-related deaths.
Similar things are happening over Northern Italy. As reported by the European Space Agency (ESA), nitrogen dioxide emissions have dropped. On the 9th of March, Italy was put on lockdown – with fewer cars on the streets, no electricity being used by businesses and no burning of fossil fuels, made the region experience drastic changes in the atmosphere.
How can this pandemic aid us for the future?
I personally believe that this pandemic might actually be good for humanity. We now know how to handle such situations, and are prepared for any possible outbreaks that might happen in the future. This outbreak is testing our scientific advancements, our limits, and our current systems. This is a good test. Humans are finally much more conscious about the importance of cleanliness and sanitary procedures [even though this should have always been engraved in our minds]. Let us hope we actually learn from this.
The importance of mental well-being in such crisis
Frankly speaking, the world needed a good pause, and so did we. We should take this time to focus on becoming a more active and better population for the sake of future generations. It is saddening seeing many businesses that stayed open till the very end, focusing on money rather than on the health of their employees. As much as we love money, we can also go without it. Even though it seems like it is based on it, the world is not based on money. It might make it go around, but in drastic situations such as this, who cares?
Those that can keep on working from home should do so, but it is also important to focus on oneself and take some time to better your own mental health, as now is the time to stop everything which is unnecessary for survival. As the saying goes, the survival of the fittest.
Take CoTake Covid-19 cautiously but do not slip into the pandemic anxiety. Stay safe and stay indoors as much as possible. It will get better – we have learned so much from this and we will come out of this as a better population. It is a pause. We need it.
cover image: source