PSA: Be smart, keep your coronavirus bubbles to yourself
Photo by Thomas de LUZE on Unsplash
Coronavirus is still killing people and spreading even if you don’t feel it
“Does anyone know anybody personally who’s actually had coronavirus?”
That question, or something like it, came across my Facebook feed sometime in late March. It seemed innocuous enough, but I couldn’t help feeling the attitude was: Is this a hoax or what?
Immediately, an image of my sister lying in bed ill with COVID-19 popped into my head.
At the time, cases were ramping up in New York City. Still, we were on pause. But despite the lockdown, some people doubted the virulence of COVID-19 because it wasn’t striking people they knew personally.
The question surprised me. It also made me sad to have proof, once again, that our society is so fragmented, a pandemic could wallop certain groups while others remain shielded.
Now that 117,000 people have been reported dead from COVID-19, most people, regardless of race, could answer “yes” to that question. But the attitude in that post, the skepticism, might return or prevail as New York reopens and people get lax about protecting themselves.