[Storyteller.]

Originally Posted by Omen.

How many of you are concerned about the coronavirus?

In the words of my favourite celebrity doctor, I'm alert, not anxious. On a personal level I'm not incredibly concerned, since I'm reasonably socially isolated to begin with so my risk of getting it or passing it on is pretty low. Even if I were to get it, my age and overall health tip the odds in my favour, and I don't interact with any people in a high risk demographic so that's not something I need to be overly worried about.

However, on a broader scale, I'm getting more concerned as time goes on. The way the pandemic is being handled, both by the media and world governments, is contributing to a state of growing panic. People are panic buying, hoarding, price gouging, and revealing their true ableist/racist/xenophobic colours all over the place, at a time when we all need to work together to slow the spread of a disease that poses a real risk to a lot of vulnerable members of society.

That said, as with any crisis, I've been looking for the helpers - there are some, though they're few and far between. I've seen people going out of their way to donate to or commission creative freelancers who are missing out on income from cancelled conventions, and low risk individuals helping their elderly or otherwise vulnerable neighbours by buying them supplies or even just checking in on them. Amidst all of the chaos, such selflessness is a welcome sight.

My community in particular is going to take a major hit from this. I live in a touristy area, and the community had only just started to recover from the bushfire crisis earlier in the year. Now with the pandemic closing down borders and necessitating social isolation, a lot of small businesses and creators will likely struggle to make ends meet. My heart also goes out to every retail and health worker out there, who are likely to face unprecedented levels of stress in the coming months, as well as anyone whose livelihood will be affected through either travel restrictions, bans on public gathering, or shutdowns.

As I said, I'm not terribly worried for myself, but for the people around me and communities all over the world who are being affected by this. We can all do our part to help slow the spread of the disease and to minimise its impact. Complacency kills, so remember to stay alert (not anxious), follow restrictions and guidelines put out by those in the know or in charge, and hope that others are doing the same.