In December last year, a new strain of virus became uncontrollable from a live animal market in Wuhan, China. It affected the people of Wuhan, and gradually to China, and today, it is a pandemic. This virus is deadly for those with underlying health conditions and for the elderly. There are some cases where teenagers and adolescents are affected too. First, it causes the throat to dry up, resulting in cough, gradually with a fever and one will experience headache, muscle aches, diarrhea and loss of smell and taste, finally affecting the lungs where one finds it difficult to breathe, and in the end, death. The name - Corona or CoViD 19 (Corona Virus Disease 2019).
It is a nightmare. You can catch the virus if you are close to the person, just by breathing the same air and of course, you catch if it the bearer coughs at your face. Or if you touch a surface that has the virus. The virus can survive on a surface for a couple of hours, depending on the type of surface.
In Sweden, the locals are advised to keep a distance, avoid unnecessary travels and do not gather in more than 50 people. As of today, there are 428 death cases in Sweden, most of them are the elderly. Do you know what I see outside? A couple of ignorant people who cannot keep a distance, teenagers hanging out and hugging each other, shoppers who stand too close to me... oh my god, I feel like shouting at them to keep a distance! Where have they been living? Shut in their own bubble? As if they are invincible. That number increased drastically after a lot of the locals came back from northern Italy (from their ski trip) during the mid-school holiday. In Italy, the virus was spreading uncontrollably.
I started working from home on alternate weeks from 16 March 2020. I am paranoid when I leave the house. I am afraid when I walk to the train station, take the train and walk to work as I know I will be meeting people. I stand in the trains and face the doors that do not open. I have my back against people. I have a 2 meter distance from anyone when I wait for the train. I am stressed when I am in the shopping mall to do grocery shopping. Just yesterday, I had to make a mad dash out from a shop, with half of my face covered in my sweater because a bunch of ignorant adults were at the entrance of the shop chatting 2 meter from each other but people have to walk between them, obviously inhaling their air! Some selfish walkers in the nature reserve or pathway hog the entire space and I have to make my way out of the path to avoid them. Interestingly, a majority of them are Swedes.
I do not understand how the oblivious people think. Don't they read the news at all? Some commented that they are not in the risk group.
There is no limited movement or lockdown control in Sweden, so there are no movement restrictions. So, they are outside, enjoying the sun and longer daylight hours. Schools and daycare are still open. Kids, in general, are not affected by the virus. So, the kids can carry the virus and may infect the teachers who infects their family members, and the chain of infection is long. There are limited test kits in Sweden. So, tests are being done to severe patients i.e. those who can hardly breathe. For those who carry the symptoms, they are required to stay at home and recuperate. You are admitted to the hospital if you cannot breathe.
In Malaysia, there has been a movement restrictive order since mid-March to limit the number of people being outside and in contact with one another. Today, there are 61 deaths in Malaysia. I prefer the movement restrictive order to control the situation and not to burden the hospitals.
The world is so different today. There are more home and food deliveries now. People realise that the important professions are shopkeepers, cashiers, doctors, delivery man, bus drivers, taxi drivers, train drivers, nurses, teachers, rubbish collectors and the ones who keep the society moving. Not the economists or athletes or actors or singers or models who are being paid a lot. How they take freedom to be outside for granted.
A race to find a cure is ongoing. There are no answers to how long this will go on. This year is just unbelievable. It is as if Mother Nature or the Earth is purging as much as it can to recover.
I have not eaten at any restaurants since a month back. We cook and bake a lot at home now, trying a lot of recipes. No activities with anyone. Reading and watching movies at home. I still have my weekly driving lessons. We go for walks during weekends early in the mornings to nature reserves to avoid the crowd. We need the sun, fresh air and exercise.
It is Easter this weekend. I really do hope no one will gather for this event.
What will become of us now?
