The transformative force of coronavirus

Just a few weeks ago we were looking forward to all sorts of large public gatherings. Now they are being banned across the country, while conferences, lectures, festivals and other events are being canceled in rapid succession – and this is the responsible thing to be doing. The advent of the Covid-19 coronavirus has shaped a new day-to-day reality in Greece and everywhere else where it has made an appearance, imposing controlled outings and more time spent at home, while introducing a new human form: the photographs illustrating the news stories keeping us abreast of developments with the epidemic show people dressed in hazmat suits spraying disinfectant here and there, well-armored medical staff or citizens with their features hidden behind surgical masks. Images of public squares in the Vatican and Venice lying empty instead of teeming with millions of tourists and cities with deserted streets complete the picture of this sudden global transformation. Every day brings a rise in new Covid-19 infections and more deaths, everyone’s hands are starting to crack from all the soap and disinfectants, new forms of greeting are being invented to avoid the customary and now forbidden handshake (world leaders are setting the example) and distance is coming into our personal and professional encounters – all shaping a new landscape of fear, suspicion and skepticism.

Humor is doing a lot to ease some of the pressure we feel as a result of this unexpected dystopia (we need to thank our cartoonists in particular), but at the same time, we also need to come to terms with the fact that this is a new reality. Every challenge that besets humanity – and especially one of this scope and which cannot be actively dealt with but only contained – may, perhaps, have a lasting impact on our psyche and on the way we think and feel. What such a challenge certainly does, though, is test the cohesion of societies. It shows who abides by the measures announced by the competent authorities and who ignores them; who understands that they’re at risk of becoming ill and, more importantly, of passing on the disease to high-risk members of the population; who allow their sense of responsibility to society to dictate their choices and who only look out for themselves. It is also a practical test of solidarity. How mindful of society’s greater good, for example, were the carnival goers in Patra who flouted the ban on the annual parade and had their fun? The coronavirus is a singularly tough crash test – not just for our individual organisms, but also for our societies and sense of coexistence, as Covid-19 transforms egotism into a public health hazard.