I had great expectations for the new year. The year 2020 was a year I planned to pursue my personal goals and aspirations to the best of my abilities. Little did I know that an unexpected occurrence will disrupt the landscape.
The break out of the coronavirus was announced in December 2019 and to be honest I did not pay much attention to the news. I perceived it to be one of those endemics that occurs in China and Asia as a whole, and as a result I did not keep abreast of news and cases that arose from it. Local media stations and online media platforms kept giving updates about the outbreak of the virus and it's spread to different countries but I thought the reports were being exaggerated. I felt it was a ploy by these media stations to get the attention of people to watch, listen and read their reports. It seemed like sensational news rather than facts to me! It turns out that I was wrong!
The death of Kobe Bryant and all aboard his helicopter in January 2020 made me feel sad. I recall telling a friend of mine that Kobe's death looked like a precursor of unpleasant events that will occur in the year! Personally I don't believe in omens but I could not shrug off the thought of Kobe's death as an omen of unpleasant events that will occur from my mind! During this period reports of the coronavirus breaking out in Italy and France with high fatalities were on the news. This news made me worried and concerned about the unpleasant events occurring in different parts of the world. The reality of the threat of the coronavirus gradually became obvious to me.
News of the virus spreading to different parts of the world made me feel uneasy. I began to realize that the possibility of it spreading to Nigeria was high. My initial dismissal of this possibility was wrong! Nigerians are industrious by nature and travel outside the country a lot, either for business or personal reasons. Foreigners also visit the country for several reasons like business and vacation. Consequently, there is a high influx of people moving in and out of the country. This trend creates a conducive environment for the virus to spread to Nigeria. The implications of this thought made me feel uncomfortable. My fears came true when the first case of the virus was reported in Nigeria in February.
Countries with high cases of the coronavirus began taking measures to slow down the rate of its transmission. Research and studies done by scientists and the medical community discovered that keeping personal hygiene especially by washing our hands with soap and water thoroughly and regularly, use of hand sanitizers, social distancing and wearing of face masks would help prevent the spread of the virus. These safety measures were related to people all over the world but were initially not observed. I think this was because a large number of people did not believe the virus was real.
The spread of the virus continued to grow in different parts of the world. The death toll of infected people also became high. These occurrences lead to countries imposing large scale quarantine i.e lockdown in their respective domains. This action brought about a halt in the vibrant and dynamic economy of the world. I never imagined that the world economy could be brought to a halt by any reason whatsoever! This was the first time I witnessed this occurrence!
The period of the lockdown was also challenging as humanity rallied round for survival. The rate of the transmission of the virus was high. Governments of different countries take tough decisions to enable us to overcome the coronavirus pandemic. This period also brought about new insights. People began to think outside the box and found new ways to satisfy certain needs. Technology became an essential tool that was deployed to meet the needs of people. These developments made me appreciate the amazing potential and capacity we possess as humans. It made me realise that challenges are surmountable if we do our best.
I hope we use the experience and knowledge garnered during the coronavirus pandemic to equip and prepare ourselves for future eventualities. This way we have some form of leverage against whatever comes our way since we don't know what may happen in the future!
Have a great day folks,
Thanks for reading.
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