At the beginning of 2020, we knew little about the virus that is now causing panic all over the world. We thought it safe to say that China, with its focus on Hubei Province, would be battling the then-"heard" disease on its own, and the only possible side effects would be felt in Europe due to the market reaction.
We watched from the news people 'prisoners' in apartment buildings singing from the balconies to inspire those who were then trapped in apartments for months. Then the situation "got worse". Reports of thousands of deaths have begun, with the construction of hospitals in record time. As if we were in a science fiction movie.
Typically, in early February, in response to an anxious call from a Chinese colleague, I undertook to send 3,000 surgical masks to China without it ever occurring to me that we would be in the same denominator only a few weeks later. For the sake of truth, today we are witnessing a pandemic crisis that is not only unprecedented but also surreal as it completely overturns our daily lives and threatens the fundamental principles of life and freedom.
This new situation mainly shows us that the model of life on the planet is no longer viable. Since man has conquered every corner of the planet and stepped on even the most remote locations, he was confronted for the first time with the power of nature, which "wiggles its finger" showing that the modern and Machiavellian way of life is not approved. Traveling to the most remote places, man in his quest to satisfy his endless curiosity exhausted all natural resources, burned entire forests, uprooted ecosystems, moved mountains, and worst of all consumed even the wildest animals on the planet. This is proof that the zero point where the virus started is located in the city of Wuhan in Hubei province where in the open-air animal market people there with cannibalistic dispositions consume even the most extreme animal foods, even from species that are difficult to detect and trap. .
The human body, unprepared for such a way of life, reacted by getting sick. And since man as a modern traveler can be in Cyprus at noon and the next morning in China, he transmitted the disease to the heart of Europe in record time, with the result that the huge circulation of people around the world spread the virus to every end in a few weeks. of the planet.
What emerges from today's pandemic, however, is how fast disease travels since today man has become a global traveler who some's ostentatiously calls a "Global Traveler." It is worth mentioning that the world since antiquity has experienced a number of terrible diseases and pandemics, mainly the plague or plague, the black plague, malaria, Ebola, cholera and many others. At that time, however, the way of life did not encourage rapid spread and despite the losses, the diseases remained stuck in certain parts of the world for a long time. Today's modern life, however, makes the human species so vulnerable and powerless to manage human survival itself, and while humanity is celebrating its conquest of the moon, it has unfortunately failed to protect itself from simple diseases. For the sake of truth, we are witnessing daily in front of human lives which are lost due to an epidemic that everyone was waiting for but no one was properly prepared to deal with. Over the last decade, heaps of economic and medical studies have warned and spoken out about a possible pandemic that would bring the planet to its knees and threaten lives, but also lead to economic and social stagnation. It is not a lie that a committee set up by the White House in 2019 warned of this danger, but as always human health took second place and the committee for unknown reasons was disbanded without completing the study and response plan.
As a result, Europe, especially the United States, is facing the biggest blow and the most casualties. Their health systems have collapsed as they are unprepared to deal with the rapid spread, their inhabitants living confined and trapped in a state of war, with the enemy not only the epidemic but also the frightening fear. But the most important thing remains that no one has prepared for the next day which will mark a lifetime when and if the epidemic is overcome.
Social and economic collapse is the most predictable outcome of this pandemic, with the whole world knowing in advance that our lives will never be the same again. Closing and limiting unlimited time is today's scenario, but even if we reach zero incidents a day, just one foreign visitor is enough to restart a new vicious circle or a second wave like what China expects today. But no one knows what the solution is. Perhaps a grandiose Marshall Plan similar to the one that took place after the end of World War II, as proposed today by the Prime Minister of Spain, Petro Sanchez, in order to restore economic, political and social normalcy. Although this sounds like a good scenario that will unite the states and make the planet a fist against the invisible enemy, it may seem difficult if America's once global power fails to lead an initiative if it is isolated and fights orphaned in this battle. At an unsuspecting time, instead of strengthening cooperation with other states, it promoted competition and cut off air links with Europe without informing the other side. To everyone's surprise, they received help from China and Russia in a panic move, which shows that at the political level there is no plan. All of the above, combined with the global political background, suggests that the status quo of world powers between China and the United States will be tested as to which power will dominate the new decade.
Apart from the political factor, however, what is certain is that all hopes are placed in the medical community and everyone prays for a vaccine. But this will take up to 18 months and until then no one can wait. A recent McKinsey & Company study published on March 25, 2020 indicates that with a complete reduction in the virus, the optimistic scenario for a return to normal life and economies in the "pre-viral" state will take place by the first quarter of 2021. On the contrary If the pandemic lasts longer with the virus not descending into an immediate recession then the second pessimistic scenario estimates that life and economies will return to the "pre-viral" state in the third quarter of 2023. Note that in the second scenario we should most of the population to pass the disease (burn through) as then the virus will not find breeding ground if the human body will create immunity known as "herd immunity" or else become enough people as a wall of protection to not move forward the spread (also called Immune Survivors). But this presupposes great losses in human lives that no one wants.
But for any scenario, society must be prepared for the future. At the moment it seems that the Covid-19 froze life. Families locked in houses for the first time. All together, homemade food instead of fast food, end the queues and traffic jams in the streets with nature being reborn and taking back what the man took from her by force. And maybe the Covid-19 to be one of the viruses of the future, that is, of the many that will follow if we do not change the current way of life which is proven to be no longer sustainable and "meaningful". Sustainable development and coexistence in harmony with the environment with respect for every species of life that exists on the planet is what should concern us from now on. The fact that we consume more than we need is the first rule we must end in our modern way of life. Alternative development is what will change after the "Metacoron" era.
Just think that for the rest of our lives we lived for tomorrow, for the future, for the next day like modern Machiavellians. Plans, plans, planes. Dreams of what we will conquer and what will come. So many times we forgot to live today waiting for tomorrow. At an unsuspecting time we were absent in these most essential and important moments with family, friends, relatives. Tomorrow's vanity, however, found the unruly enemy called Coronavirus. Today we have a huge opportunity to understand for the first time in a violent and adversely sad way how fragile life itself is and how little depends on us. Today the biggest lesson is about the NOW and this breath we just took now is the gift we should be happy about. Today. Because no one knows tomorrow.
Antonis Antoniou