Taking a turn at Wuhan.

This is unprecedented. We have never had nations put up walls like this, isolating themselves. Here we were, complaining about a global trend towards isolationism and now here we are, enforcing isolationism. Nations are going into shells, strictly prohibiting outsiders and contact. Covid-19 has really shown us how fragile this world we live in, is.

When reading up on social distancing is when I figure how exposed each of us is, how I really have to suspect everyone of being a possible carrier. It reminded me of the Cold War thrillers of the 80s. It also made me think twice about picking up the newspapers and milk in the morning. Social distancing, regional distancing, national distancing, they don’t sound good but they sound responsible, in the circumstances.

As I speak (16.03), the rate of spread is already coming down in many nations. In China, S. Korea, Japan and Hong Kong, it is now taking a week for the number of cases to double. As doubling time increases, nations and their stretched healthcare systems get more time to test and treat.

But then again, the numbers coming in from Italy and Spain are looking extremely discouraging. Thankfully, nations have taken the tough call and are enforcing lockdowns. And we can only hope that in Europe again, we see doubling time going up, fast.

This is not the first pandemic. And let us face up to the fact that it won’t be the last. In fact, the frequency with which newer and newer viruses keep popping up, is getting higher. But what Covid-19 has done is given us a wake-up call. It has woken up complacent governments and made them test their emergency rigour, it has revealed to us how hopefully pathetic and inadequate our healthcare services are. It has shown the First World how epidemics are not a Third World phenomenon. It has shown Rudy Gobert that acting the fool can make you look very foolish indeed.

As corporations across the world go into work-from-home mode, it helps us test how practical remote working is on a larger scale. Everyone working from home is different from 5% being on wfh-mode. In time, will remote working prove to be more efficient and productive than our current model? Will this change our work cultures?

Schools and universities have gone online. While admirable, will this again change our idea of education? This degree of blanket-isolationism means that we are entering an age of smaller filter bubbles. And lesser Vitamin D.

With globalisation came greater connectedness. We cannot isolate viruses or ideas in Wuhan or Venice any more, every tree that falls in every forest will have all of us hearing it whether we like it or not. So maybe it is time we stopped looking at globalisation and looking at internationalism – where we have the required circuit breakers that can isolate in case of emergencies but yet have systems in place that can share knowledge in a transparent, regulated manner. I really believe the situation would have been much better if China had been transparent and open to international support a month back.

While we pull up barriers, nations are also now sharing information. As we speak, nations that have isolated the virus are sharing information, which will help creation of drugs, vaccines and diagnostic kits. Maybe science will be our great unifier, going ahead.

The last month has been a scary month. But it has helped us test many systems and hopefully, we have learnt our lessons. And we might emerge from this a better race. And maybe, we might see a new phase of internationalism. Maybe Wuhan is our turning point.

There is one change I already see. The handshake is giving way to the namaste, which I have always felt, is a most respectful way to greet another human being (when you think about it).

But here is a little more respect you can add (that all of us can add) to our behaviour – sanitise your hands not just after contact, but before contact as well. Do not just believe that you can get the virus, know that you can also carry it and share it. Please respect the other.