Corona reveals: solidarity

Solidarity during corona

Future research will show which countries did well and which countries were too lax. It’s touch and go. We are like blind people who have to feel our way forward and hopefully make the best decisions. What we need are eagle eyes that closely follow the available knowledge. Lord, spare us from fake news!

We must handle this with the utmost care and try to make the best of it, by protecting ourselves, but still staying in touch with each other. We will die if we’re each on our own. There must still be something of solidarity left in society. If we now have to briefly keep our distance from each other, then we do so out of concern for the other and out of enlightened self-interest, out of love for ourselves, which is nothing wrong.

Initially I was skeptical about the social isolation measures for a number of reasons because I was still thinking in terms of influenza, but now I have to admit that the coronavirus is more virulent and claims a higher death toll compared to influenza. If it’s true that every COVID-19 patient infects two point something people in their surroundings, who in turn pass it on as well, you have the formula for an exponential curve.

The characteristic of that is that it can advance quickly. Explosive, you might say. That’s why I am now firmly in the camp of those who advocate for a contact ban, primarily with regard to the elderly, chronically ill, pregnant women and newborns. They are the most threatened and we must do it for them, even if it interferes with the pleasures of being together.

In a year or so, we will be able to assess which countries have taken appropriate measures and which have failed, or overdone it—that’s also possible. There will certainly also be adverse consequences of the isolation approach, which we will only become aware of later. It’s not easy and a scapegoat is not so easily found. You’ll have to make do with that.

We must handle this with the utmost care and try to make the best of it, by protecting ourselves, but still staying in touch with each other. We will die if we’re each on our own. There must still be something of solidarity left in society. If we now have to briefly keep our distance from each other, then we do so out of concern for the other and out of enlightened self-interest, out of love for ourselves, which is nothing wrong.

---