A New Normal?

Strange times indeed. The world is a very different place to the one we knew just a few months ago. The almost intangible emergence of a semi-apocalyptic virus shutting the globe down is surely the stuff of the latest Stephen King thriller. People have been locked down (the new in-word) for weeks, deaths of seven to eight hundred a day in countries throughout mainland Europe are common place and we struggle to even comprehend the scale of just what confronts us.
The source of such horror has reportedly been traced to the so-called "wet markets" in China. For the uninitiated these markets sell anything that breathes, then kills it, cooks it, (sometimes not) and then feeds it to an omnipresent customer base while they wait. Whilst consuming such delicacies as rats, bats and dogs, (there are also the "normal" options of chicken and fish), wet markets play a very important part of the rural Chinese economy and cries to close them, (as has been suggested of late) would simply drive such business underground and as such, probably cause greater damage to not only the eager consumers but possibly the entire world in one fell swoop.

China has (rightly so) been chastised internationally for its lack of transparency in regard to this current Corona Virus outbreak. Previous outbreaks in the form of SARS have largely been restricted to the Asia peninsula but unfortunately, maybe due to the relative easy access to air travel at an affordable price, we have seen a much quicker development of the COVID19 variant across the Globe, in no small way, lets not forget, also attributable to the contagious qualities of the virus, far more-so than any previous mutations.
The consumption of raw meats and in particular, so science would lead us to believe, bats and snakes, has helped the virus to jump the species barrier to humans, this most unnatural way of life which (to most Westerners is abhorrent) is the norm in these markets. This being the case though perhaps the best way forward would seem to be education and better regulation of such arenas. I know that America is calling for the banning of such markets, (I believe the WHO have been clumsy at best to this point) and its understandable that this is the case. On the contrary, though, I believe now we should be pressing China to bring in stricter regulations, endorse what can and cant be done and stick to it. Only then can we start to tackle these cesspits of infection and Zoonotic diseases.

So, from here what do we see? More lock down is surely on the cards, borders will be closed across States and Countries for the foreseeable future. We will all learn much from this, not only about social manners but also the art of self-distancing that will include more hand washing and better hygiene, in itself, not a bad outcome!  As far as the Global markets are concerned they are taking a bashing, but as we have seen many times before, they survive, mostly with some new millionaires and some new bankruptcies, but they survive. It will also be interesting indeed to see if Sweden's herd immunity works in the long run, as we know they have only asked the vulnerable to self-isolate and given everyone else cart-blanche, except for the two meter rule. Although at present per-capita their death rate is higher than America, it remains to be seen how much quicker they turn the corner.

 As for myself? Well I am at home entering my fifth week of isolation, any of you who know me well will know that cutting my arms off would have been a less severe punishment! But we all have to make major adjustments and motivate ourselves to carry on.
 My adopted Country Australia has so far dodged the worst of the virus by locking down early and keeping those lock downs in place, though of course it is well paragraphed that cruise ships have caused almost half of the current death toll, which raises an even larger eyebrow when we are told the industry has seen forward cruise bookings increase by over 40%. Maybe some natural selection is at work there, but I am sure the cruise lines will be doing everything to keep their customers safe.
All in all however, as stated Australia has been very fortunate, unlike our European friends Spain, UK and most notably Italy.
So, in such times that we find ourselves, lets all be thankful for what we have, not what we haven't got, lets talk to our older neighbours and offer support where its needed, lets take this time to make life adjustments, spend time with the kids if possible and take it as a "time out".
 Motivation (or lack of it) is just our heads adjusting to what is no longer "normal". This can also be a time of self revelation so don't waste it and hopefully we will have learned enough from this to avoid such an issue in the future and even better we find a new 'normal' that helps us appreciate the simpler things we now have no access to.

 Stay safe and well all.