It's really not that difficult
Daryl Joseph MA, CEAP
President, International Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA), Founder Josal Consulting Ltd, Board member, Howard U. Social Work
Over the course of my lifetime, I have witnessed the human race grapple with several life altering threats. I have seen the threat of nuclear war of the 80s, the AIDS virus of the 90s, the economic and social crises of the 2000s. Who would have thought an invisible virus would have become our biggest challenge?
This particular challenge has something peculiar about it though. Covid-19 needs our help to infect us. It cannot do the job on its own. The coronavirus needs our agreement to not wear masks properly consistently or at all. It relies on us to get tired washing our hands all the time and to skip it, even just once. Covid-19 needs us to be up under each other and in each other’s faces. Covid-19 is counting on our commitment to go to work, the grocery, the pharmacy or even to ‘buss a lil lime* by family’ when we feel sick. So, is coronavirus infecting us or are we infecting each other with covid?
Is coronavirus infecting us or are we infecting each other with covid?
This question is important because the answer tells you who really has the power in this situation.
The reality is that we - you, me, everybody, has the power to control the spread of covid-19. The power does not reside with the government, opposition, ministry of health, immigrants, or citizens. The moments of victory or loss happen every time we decide to wear our mask in public properly or lower it below our chin because it is ‘uncomfortable’. Covid is beaten into submission or given a lifeline every time we turn down an invitation to hang with the guys or rush out to take a lil drink cause they ‘safe’. Even if we come into contact with people who are infected with the virus, if we mask-wash-sanitize-distance-stay away consistently our chances of becoming infected and being recruited into the covid army to pass on that infection are next to none.
The power to flatten the curve is in your hand
The power to flatten the curve and bring covid-19 under control is in your hands. You have to recognise the power you have and exercise it. Blaming others is comforting and social-media ready but it is a way of fooling ourselves into complacency. We are all soldiers in the war against this virus, and until a vaccine is produced, accepted, and distributed, we have to hold the line. Please do your part today and help get this situation under control. Mask-wash-sanitize-distance-stay away. It is the only way - and it works!
*'lime' - Trinidad & Tobago colloquialism for 'hang out', get together, or socialize