The Virus
Coronavirus, the word on everyone’s minds right now. The pandemic that has caused panic, pandemonium and pain across the globe for the past few months has now reached a new level of severity. Yet somehow, nothing seems to have changed when I walk down the streets of Amsterdam, or Dublin, or Antwerp. The streets are busy, the grocery stores are stocked and no one is wearing a mask. Now I don’t claim to be an expert, but things are obviously escalating numbers-wise. Only a few weeks ago there were barely any cases in Europe, and now there are thousands. Every day, the number diagnosed in the Netherlands seems to double. Here is an updated map of the cases in the Netherlands as of March 11th.
One thing I have noticed is that people in the US seem to be much more concerned than in Europe. Even countries, such as France and Spain, that have over 1,500 cases each, still have no travel restrictions and businesses are functioning normally. Although people have been warned not to do the classic french double kiss (la bise). There are bans on large gatherings as well, but it is nothing like the hysteria I’ve heard about happening in the States. In Seattle for example, people have said it feels like everything is closing and being cancelled. Some railway systems have been suspended and stores are sold out of masks, bleach and toilet paper. Now schools and universities across the country are switching to online classes and urging students to go home. Colby so far hasn’t made a move, but Bowdoin has announced its plan to close. There seems to be two opposite camps, those that are stockpiling for the apocalypse and the indifferent ones treating it as the normal flu. I think this has a lot to do with the media portrayal back home. Most headlines seem to support one of these ideas: “US coronavirus cases top 1,000 as WHO declares a pandemic” vs. “Coronavirus Becomes Latest Excuse for Mass Hysteria”.
This is all with a semi-outsider perspective, but now I’ll talk a bit about things here. Everyone in abroad programs is obviously worried about being sent home, but even with multiple cases within my current University (Vrije Universiteit), no new policies have been put in place. With finals for our first period coming up soon, it’s hard not to think about how everyone will be in large groups taking tests for hours at a time. That doesn’t seem like the safest situation under the current circumstances. The only thing the University has said is that lectures are no longer mandatory if they were before. People are also still travelling and doing everything normally. I was chatting with my Dutch group members and they all seemed unconcerned, even with the number reaching over 500 in the Netherlands now. The awareness is hopefully growing, with the 27 EU leaders having a video conference today to discuss new measures. A few things came out of this, including plans to stock up on protective gear and medical equipment, making a team of epidemiologists and virologists to investigate the outbreak and providing 7.5 billion euros to aid the effort.
I honestly don’t know whether being here or in the US is safer right now, with so many cases around my hometown near Boston. The other problem is the lack of widespread testing in the US, so the outbreak may be much larger than what is shown in the numbers.
It’s weird to think that we’re all living through a major moment in history right now. There will probably be new policies and economic changes due to this event. What will people call this in the future? The pandemic of 2020? How many events will be missed? How many people will die because of the Coronavirus, how many people will lose loved ones? The future is uncertain, and that’s scary, we don’t know how this story will end.
Some info from:
https://dailycampus.com/stories/2020/3/9/mass-hysteria-an-incorrect-response-to-coronavirus
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-leaders-try-to-retake-control-of-coronavirus-response/