When the news of the Covid-19 outbreak first came out, I remember starting off unbothered – I heard about it in China and thought it was just another bad thing that happened on the news and that I would be safe from it. Of course I was worried and sad for the people involved but I thought it would never be something that affected or changed my life at all. However, after a week or two people started to get more and more panicky about it. As well as this, Covid-19 has begun to have a noticable impact on my own life – project week has been cancelled, which is very dissapointing news considering the work we have put into planning. While there is some relief in the cancellation (all the time spent on project week can now be spent on other stuff), the various reactions to it being cancelled and just Covid-19 in general has made me start thinking more about the global impact of Covid.
I remember hearing predictions that Covid was the new plague and that everyone in China had it and that we were all going to die, and it suddenly went from something that was not a big concern for me to something that made me fearful. I started to worry for me and my family (especially my grandparents). This reminded me of when the ebola outbreak a few years ago was all over the news. I was still young back then, and I remember being absolutely terrified that I would get ebola and die from it. Although being in Singapore I was really safe, I think I was too young to fully understand how these diseases worked, so after hearing about it on the news I was genuinely fearful about it for a long time.
The reactions to Covid-19 have been similar to my reaction a long time ago – people are driven by fear in this situation. From panic buying to sending around fear-mongering articles, many people around the world have reacted to the outbreak in a selfish way, taking on an “every man for himself approach”. On the other hand, many people have been really selfless, like doctors and nurses that risk their lives to treat the virus. I have realised that fear is something that can really affect our actions in good and bad ways, as it can bring out the best and worst in people. I have also realised that I have a responsibility to act in the way that is the best for the overall general public, even if it doesn’t suit me, such as staying home and not meeting up with friends. I often feel discouraged or powerless thinking about the fact that I’m just one person on a huge planet, but this has reminded me that there is power to individuals when they all come together. Me being the one person who stays on lockdown might not do anything, but because most people decide to make that ethical decision, that adds up to having a really big effect. So although I am disappointed by the project week cancellation, I know that there are many ways I can grow and develop without it, as it is better to keep vulnerable people safe, as opposed to thinking about what we personally want.
