Four years ago this morning, I was sitting right here at my kitchen table, checking to see what news was coming in. I think it was Helen Branswell's tweet that woke me up, then posts from Mike Coston, Giuseppe Michieli and Ian Mackay: something was up in Wuhan.
By 7:48 a.m. I'd posted my first item on what would be COVID-19, and who knows how many thousands I've posted (or tweeted about) since then. The last day of 2019 was the last day of a long era when pandemics were spoken of only in the past tense.
Most people refer to COVID-19 in the past tense now. It's very far from over, but most people and all governments have found the strength to bear the misfortunes of those who still fall ill, suffer long COVID, or die with one strain or another of this remarkable coronavirus. I hope that will pass as COVID's long-term effects become more obvious, and governments will have to find the strength to do something about an increasingly ill population.
It's been a highly instructive four years: We've learned a great deal about the virus, its effects, and ourselves. We have not handled it well, and many are disillusioned about our healthcare systems—including many who work in those systems.
I'm disillusioned too, but I don't use the word negatively. To be disillusioned is to be freed of an illusion. Hopefully one is then able to see reality more clearly than before, and to act more effectively. May we all live in the coming year with fewer illusions than we held on December 31, 2019.
