Facing The Pandemic

How did we get here? 

Late January, 2020, I was visiting India when I heard about the coronavirus outbreak in China. It featured on the daily news but not in my conversations. When I returned to the States, there was no buzz about it. The US was enmeshed in the Democratic Primary. Even as the pandemic was growing, I was unaware, too busy in my daily routine. Coronavirus was in the fringes of my awareness even as it was tearing through Asia and Europe. 

Growing threat.

My in-laws were planning a trip to Spain. That’s when I started taking interest. This was early March and news chatter about this started increasing. Several countries were closing borders. I was getting ready to go on a Spring break vacation. That week, a series of COVID-19 related cases, closures, and postponements were announced State side. That’s when I finally got serious about it. I cancelled my vacation, recorded the pending podcast episode, with Eddie and then went into full social distancing mode.

Ominous presence.

Its late March, this week, as I am getting done with my call and ICU rotation, I have already been involved in a couple of documented COVID-19 patients and several presumed patients. Just like everyone else I have been thinking about it all the time. Eddie and I recorded our most recent episode ‘Facing the Pandemic with Virtue,’ separately, practicing social distancing. It did not have the same feel to it like our previous episodes but we had to be okay with it.

Building resilience.

I have been working my way through very interesting books over the past few weeks, Viktor Frankl’s ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ and David Brooks’s ‘The second mountain’, along with my regular diet of the Great Conversation. These books talk of purpose and the hazards of individualism. The great books have helped me solve simple problems of life but this is the first time that I have been able to find answers to big, scary, and overwhelming problems too. Here is what I realized that I did wrong and what I needed to do going forward: 

What I did wrong: 

I did not pay attention to the virus due to distraction of local/national politics.

I was self-absorbed with my job, family, and podcast.

I did not immediately plan to take precautions. I also realized that I am sloppy with these simple precautions during other epidemics.

I blamed others for this problem. 

I did not prepare for the crisis by gathering essentials like non-perishable food and disinfectant. 

I did not think of the vulnerable population in my community or at my work.

What I need to do: 

I don’t have a plan but I know I am going to network and tie up with others in an effort to tackle global problems. I will reduce waste. I will try to limit my dependence on animal products. I will recycle more and use less non-renewable energy.

I have and will continue to support small business. Resiliency Rounds will get involved in local non-profit. 

I will spend more time with the ones I love. I will use this time to have the Great Conversation with my family. Eddie and I will continue to build the Resiliency Rounds movement. 

Optimism.

It is easy to get caught up in the negatives but our response to this crisis has made me stop and rethink. Over the past few days, there seems to be a renewed energy at work. Everyone is coming together to form a coalition against the virus. I feel excited about going to work for a change. I also feel like I am part of something bigger than me. Everywhere, we are innovating and transforming our old ways of life to meet the new threat. We are showing genuine concern for each other and not for the bottom line. This pandemic might fix our broken systems. It might make us revisit our priorities. Instead of focusing on money, we might be forced to restructure to face such global threats. 

One planet. 

For too long we have turned a blind eye to animal derived viruses despite several warnings; Bird flu, Swine flu, Ebola, and Zika, all spread via birds, animals, and insects. If we want to prevent such infections, we have to stop our dependence on animal products, curb deforestation and help all nations improve their Public Health systems. I am no expert on this but it doesn’t take a scientist to realize that we require a global coalition. We formed the UN after the World War, these pandemics have claimed more lives that the War. We need to join forces again.

To quote a Second World War hero, Winston Churchill, "Never let a good crisis go to waste."

Call to action.

Let’s take this time to reflect on our choices. Let’s stop being self-absorbed. Let’s choose our leaders based on global issues and not local ones. Let’s focus on the healthcare of everyone and not just the privileged few. We are all in this together. Let’s make our world stronger and more resilient.