Many have described the Covid-19 pandemic as the world war of our generation. Some politicians have brought ridicule upon themselves, acting like army generals – making grandiose statements and premature prophecies of victory. Places worldwide have gone into lockdown, and the only safe haven seems to be the confined realms of our homes.
More importantly, though, I have begun to wonder who the enemy really is. The obvious answer would be the Sars-CoV-2 virus. However, viruses are ubiquitous and have probably existed for far longer than the human race. As with all wars, this seems to be a battle between the demons of human nature versus humanity itself.
Whether it is the mistreatment of wildlife, the web of deceit we create to hide reprehensible truths, the unfounded accusations based on race and skin colour, the clearing out of shop shelves in blind panic, the selfish decisions to evade quarantine – they all tell us more about how we behave as humans than how threatening the coronavirus is.
Perhaps, now more than ever, we should reflect on how we would like to contribute to humanity to better it as a whole. Self-discipline and showing kindness to others do not require grand plans or mammoth efforts; we just need to dig a little to find it in our souls and hearts.
We do not have to be the World Health Organisation, the government, or any authoritative figure to do so. We might question how consequential an individual effort could be, but the coronavirus does not discriminate and we are all equally vulnerable. After all, a virus might be deadly but the lack of compassion is fatal to humanity.
Veronica Law, frontline doctor, Causeway Bay
