Life under corona

As the novel coronavirus pandemic continues to proliferate, each day brings with it new challenges and restrictions for Israeli society. As of Tuesday, over 300 people in the country had been infected with the virus. Many experts say that if not for the stringent restrictions being imposed by the government, this situation could be much worse.

It’s almost impossible to imagine the accelerated pace of limits imposed on the country over the last 10 days. We’ve seen gatherings limited to 5,000 people reduced down to 1,000, to 100 and then to just 10 in a matter of days as well as the shuttering of schools, restaurants, all places of entertainment and sporting events. There are limits on synagogue attendance and much of the workforce has been sent to either work at home or put on forced leave.

The latest development, overnight Monday, was the cabinet’s controversial approval to deploy advanced digital monitoring tools relying on data from citizens’ cell phones in an effort to track carriers of the coronavirus. Then Tuesday, the Health Ministry further restricted the public’s movement, ordering everyone inside unless it was necessary to be outside.

Amid all this turmoil, Israelis have behaved in a commendable manner. On the whole, there’s been an understanding that, like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has explained in his frequent evening addresses to the nation, we have to get used to a new routine of life.

There’s been little hoarding of food items and products like toilet paper or mass hysteria that supplies are going to run out. Restaurants and cafes are gradually heeding the orders to close or offering takeout service only, and workplaces are following the guidelines to enable many employees to work from home.

And as Israelis tend to do, we have devised some original ways to adapt to the unique situation in which we, like the rest of the world, find ourselves. Social media has been full of videos of neighbors in a Jerusalem ‘’shikun” (utilitarian public housing) neighborhood standing on their small porches and joining together in song to pass the time and express solidarity, much like counterparts in Italy were filmed earlier this week.

Another viral posting showed a resilient couple who decided not to postpone their wedding celebration, and ended up holding it in an Osher Ad supermarket, one of the few places of gathering in the country that is allowed to hold up to 100 people.

Such diversions pick up the spirits of the entire country, a nation that is punch drunk from the onslaught of the corona-derived blows it has suffered. As dismal as the immediate outlook seems to be, there are tasks that all Israelis can undertake to make the best of a frightening and alarmingly open-ended situation.

The priority, of course, is to ensure our own and our family’s well-being, by following the guidelines set down by the Health Ministry. Don’t think that you’re miraculously immune from coronavirus. Take care of yourselves and loved ones.

But now is also the time to reach out to others. A society is defined by how it treats its weakest members and there are plenty of people in Israel who, while not suffering from coronavirus, are suffering due to the sanctions.

Youth groups have been making us proud by launching programs to reach out to the elderly and infirm who put their lives at risk by venturing outside, and offering them help in getting groceries or medicine. Find someone in your neighborhood that needs help and do the same.

With the advent of an online society, loneliness is the plague of the 21st century. And it’s getting much worse thanks to social distancing. Make it a point to reconnect with friends and relatives. Coronavirus can’t be transmitted on the phone.

Being sent home on an enforced leave from work can be disheartening and alarming. But it’s also an opportunity that few people in their working life get to experience that of having time. We may not be able to go to the movies, but we can still spend quality time with our children and families, catch up on that Netflix series we always wanted to watch and exercise with YouTube instructional videos.

As the coronavirus pandemic unfolds, its one silver lining is reminding us about the fragility of human life and how our highly developed brains and unthinkable technological advancements are no match for a microscopic virus.

It’s humbling, but if harnessed properly, that information can also be liberating. May all of our readers stay healthy, in mind and body.