Birthdays in a time of Coronavirus

I saw a thing on the socials that during an event like this, when history is happening all over the place, it is a good idea to journal. So over the next few weeks, I'll be posting some thoughts.

It was my 50th birthday yesterday. It came and went without much fanfare, even more so than other years. Planned festivities have been postponed. To mark my 50th journey around the sun, I'll be getting a roast pork lunch from my mum tomorrow. My cousin will be joining us.

It isn't the most important thing right now, but I imagine a lot of March and April birthdays will be desultory affairs this year. Spare a thought for us during this period of social distancing, lockdowns and self-isolation.

Birthdays this March and April

Until last week those terms were not really in the vernacular but now they are coming up in every conversation, for both PSAs and comic effect.

At first there were a few news items about a new Coronavirus, originating in Wuhan, China. Concerning yes, but haven't we been here before? I remember the SARS outbreak in 2003. I remember it was 2003 because that was the year I went on holiday to Barcelona and almost the first thing I was asked by the friend I was staying with was "do you have a cough? Temperature?". So it was on the radar but life went on as usual. I barely gave it a second thought, even when I did get a cold whilst in Barcelona. I also learnt that antihistamine in Spanish is antihistamenico.

Anyway, these viruses come and go and always seem to happen far away from me. I figured this would be the same. I suppose everyone did, at first.

But no this is the big one. The one that was, until now, a big "what if". The one they made movies about where scientists would be asked how realistic or likely the movie scenario was. Come to think of it, the scientists would always give qualified answers but I don't know how many said it couldn't happen. This is the one that seemed impossible in this day and age, with not only our medical advances but our swift communication technology.

China went into lockdown (possibly the only advantage of living in an authoritarian state) and seemed to contain it. They have had no new cases the last few days. But it has already moved to Iran and Italy. There's not much news out of Iran but Italy is bad. Just yesterday they surpassed China's death toll. And China has a much higher population than Italy.

Like many, at first I wondered why this one was causing so much concern. The flu kills thousands each year, after all. But this one, now named Covid-19, is way more contagious and where the flu kills .1%, this one kills about 1-3%. It is new and there's no vaccine and treatment is an educated guess. The big one.

Even last week it seemed a bit removed and business not quite as usual (my hands have never been cleaner) but life was going on. But since last weekend, we have started living in a movie plot. Panic buying of toilet paper was annoying and the butt of many jokes. Then other groceries - pasta, pasta sauces were being stripped from shelves. There were reassurances that supermarkets are an essential service and would remain open; supply chains were sound and not disrupted.

It didn't matter. People are panicking and certain shelves are bare. People like me, levelheaded types who listen carefully and download information are the ones who are being caught short. Another reason intelligence isn't all it is cracked up to be. Sure I can accurately identify bloody idiots when I see them, but the bloody idiots have the chicken schnitzel I fancied for dinner.