#82: Only Logic Will Help Us Out of the Pandemic

These are not the easiest of times. We are still in the middle of a global pandemic, which is worsening in its impact due to various mutations of the virus that keep questioning the viability of our vaccines. Many people are suffering due to the disease, directly or indirectly, and all of our lives are in turmoil.

It is easy in such moments to despair. Frankly, it is difficult to maintain sanity and retain focus even for those of us who have been able to keep surviving, albeit in a reduced fashion. The psychological toll is nevertheless real, and the seduction to just ignore all caution and act as if we could return to normal is completely understandable.

That’s why it is important, maybe, to remind ourselves that this reality is actually, indeed, our reality, for very concrete reasons. Logic may help us here.

1. The pandemic is real. For whatever reason, it spread out of China, whose government was not forthcoming for months about the cause and specific design of the virus. (To be clear: The blame lies with the government, not with the people of China, who are just innocent victims of a cruel regime. The hatred for people of Asian or specifically Chinese descent is wrong – as is all hatred. But anger at the government is justified).
2. The virus spreads through droplets (which can be controlled with masks, maintaining distance, cleaning of surfaces) and aerosols (which can be controlled with even better masks, even greater distance, cleaning of surfaces, avoidance of indoor meetings, frequent and efficient changes of air in rooms if you have to be indoors). Some viral variants are more prolific than others.
3. The virus enters through the respiratory system, but its effects are on the entire biology of the body. Some of its effects are probably debilitating for a long time, in both adults and children.
4. The virus can be transmitted by symptomatic and asymptomatic persons.
5. The virus can be deadly for everyone, but most likely for older people and those with serious medical conditions which may or may not be known to those affected.
6. The infection spreads exponentially, not lineally, if given enough room.
7. The effects of the viral infection become clear only after a certain passage of time. From infection to symptoms to potential hospitalization to potential death, it takes several weeks. Current infection data will map onto deaths with a significant time delay. We will have to act now in anticipation of something that may or may not happen in a few weeks. This has proved to be a major challenge, as people keep questioning the lethality of the virus.
8. Vaccination needs to happen as fast as possible. Without it, viral spread continues and new mutated variants can evolve that may evade the protections given by the vaccine.
9. All our various hygienic and lockdown countermeasures are in place BECAUSE OF EVERYTHING BEFORE. We cannot pretend that this is not real, even though we are suffering the consequences of both the pandemic and our reactions to it. We need to constantly adapt our reactions to the situation, be more vigilant that we’d like to be, and remain in a state of lockdown and protectiveness till this is over for everyone, globally.
10. If we ignore safety and just pretend it is not happening, the pandemic will still spread, people will still get sick, will die, and the number of mutated variants will increase to eventually counteract even our vaccines. This must not be allowed to happen. For this, we need to think logically, long-term, and need to have patience – and governments need to help their people to maintain that patience by supporting their existence.

This is our moment as a global community, our make-or-break moment. We need to fight this together, or else there may not be much that needs saving at the end of this depressing period in human history. Let’s prove we can rise to the occasion as one world.