Photo by Kristopher Roller on Unsplash
I don’t know if historical perspective will help.
Pandemics throughout history regularly killed 5 to 10% of humanity (ignore the black plague overachiever). All of humanity – not just those who catch it – everyone.on.the.planet.
And it wasn’t just the disease that killed. Supply chain disruption. Food disruption. That killed just as many, if not more.
Because we in modern times are able to communicate, and self-isolate, and have medical at the level we do, and running water, and supply chains and everything else in this marvelous age – we are keeping those catching the disease to a tenth of a percent of humanity … 0.1%.
We are going to lose only 0.01% to this because we are ALL WORKING TOGETHER TO STOP IT.
The first time, everyone ON THE PLANET CAN WORK TOGETHER.
It is amazing and awesome, and makes me cry a little.
A hundred years ago COVID would have killed a thousand times more people than what it is doing. (And it would have too, the thing has a disgustingly long incubation period, and we’ve been world travelers with pandemic issues since 200 AD (see the Antonine and Justinian plagues.))
These stay-at-home orders are not signs that something is wrong, they are signs something is very very right.
I know it doesn’t make it less scary, but does add an incredible ray of hope.