What Should We Remember When the Coronavirus Pandemic is Over?

While I was looking for an angle for a story to pitch (first time ever!!) to news agencies in the US (including FOX News, but never heard back), Seth Godin’s newsletter popped up in my inbox. The subject line — “What should we remember?” He wasn’t referring to the coronavirus, but I knew how I’d respond.

(Side note, if you’re not already subscribed to Seth Godin’s newsletter, you should. He always seems to know what to say at the right time, and in so few words.)

Though the following piece wasn’t picked up because “lessons learned” can come off as platitudes, I still want to share my thoughts. I’m convinced the message I want to deliver — that we must come together in order to defeat the coronavirus pandemic — is important. (That’s the beauty of having my own blog, so I can share whatever I want, hehe!)

I know most of you agree with me, but there are still folks out there who don’t think the pandemic will affect them. Let’s find a way to get them on board.

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In a recent newsletter from Seth Godin, he posed the question, “What should we remember?”

Years from now, after the coronavirus pandemic is over, what should we remember about it?

For me, I will remember how this was a battle we fought together. How it brought the world together to combat this thing that has no respect for borders, for race, for socioeconomic status, for status of power.

I have been self-quarantined in China since January 25th. Two days before the Wuhan lockdown, I was in Vietnam for a wedding, completely unaware of the coronavirus that would put 1.39 billion people, including me, in quarantine. It all happened so fast. 

When I first heard the news that a new SARS-like virus was spreading rapidly in Wuhan, I didn’t panic because I didn’t believe it could affect me. China is so large a large country that the chance of it reaching me was minuscule.

A week later I found out a neighbor living three floors below my grandmother, with whom I’d spent Chinese New Year, had come back from Wuhan to celebrate the holiday with his family, and he carried the virus. To be honest, I reacted with incredulous laughter.

This pandemic is no laughing matter, of course. I cannot begin to imagine what life is like in Wuhan where entire families are dying because of the coronavirus.

But, for someone who is not in the pit of the fire, positivity has been vital for my morale to get through this.  

Foreign media blame the Chinese government and media for broadcasting only positive news like the rapid construction of two quarantine hospitals while underreporting infection and death rates. I am a proponent for truth and grimace at propaganda, but I understand why this is done at a time like this.

If I succumb to the gloom and doom so readily available, I would be quarantined at home in complete terror, and where would that get me? Alternatively, I am finding ways to stay positive. I am at home borrowing e-books from Cambridge Public Library, staying in touch with family and friends, writing and exercising, and spending quality time with my mom.

Still, not knowing when and if this virus will hit home, panic is inevitable and fear is a constant. But I have to manage these reactions, not just for my own sanity, but to quell my mother’s panic from sensationalized news and social media updates, and even for, I choose to believe, the greater good.

When I go outside to buy groceries or for a breath of fresh air, I am diligent about wearing a facemask and avoiding crowded places. When I get home, I disinfect my shoes, my jacket, even my cell phone, and wash my hands. But most of the time, I stay indoors. It’s the least I can do to help combat the coronavirus.

I’ve heard of landlords who decrease rent for small business owners, employers who pay their staff despite a lack of business, taxi drivers and food deliverers who continue to provide their services despite the dangers of coming in close contact with people, and private citizens who donate money, facemasks, and even feminine hygiene products to Wuhan, still under lockdown.  

There is a sense of camaraderie like I’ve never seen before and it extends beyond our borders. Even the historically tension-ridden relationship with Japan has eased since their government and private citizens demonstrated their support through sympathetic messages and donations of resources to China.

I play a tiny role in the fight against the coronavirus, but if we each do our part in protecting our communities, and ourselves, our impact could mean an end to the pandemic. This faith in us makes the disruption in my life bearable.

After this is all over, when I look back on my month of self-quarantine and on these months of fighting the coronavirus, I will remember how the empathy of individuals around the world made me feel less alone. How international governments avoided further atrocities when they cooperated and shared information and resources.

And, finally, I will remember that we, mere mortals, when faced with something bigger than ourselves, finally came to understand that we were in this battle together, and that understanding not only helped us win against the coronavirus pandemic, but it also brought us closer together.

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Now, dear reader, I’d like to turn the question to you and hope you will reply in the comments below.

Years from now when this is all over, what will you remember?