One Year of Covid

There are many corona virus anniversaries being marked this month. The one-year anniversary date when a new virus was identified, the one-year anniversary date when the first person died, the one-year date when it was given the name Covid19 and on and on. Today marks the one-year anniversary date when it was first identified in Canada. The patient was in Sunnybrook hospital in Toronto.

When that first patient was identified we had no idea of the impact the virus would have. By the end of May, 1600 long term care residents had died. Since then, over 6000 Ontarians have died, over 19 thousand Canadians have died, and globally over 2 million people have succumbed to the virus. Let that sink in … 2 million people. This ‘novel’ virus, as it was first called, has changed life as we know it. Common expectations nowadays are masks, hand sanitizer and Covid tests. And the prick of a needle to receive a vaccine is looked forward to.

I have had several conversations lately that have revealed that people are just done. Done with the impact of the virus. Done with the separation and isolation. Done with the restrictions. Done with the fear and worry. All the people I know are being cautious and abiding by the rules. All the people I know are doing the best they can to find distractions and fill the locked in hours with activities and past times. But they are growing weary of it all. So am I.

I have been struggling to imagine how to mark this anniversary month with optimism, with hope. So I went back to the statistics page. Yes, over 2 million people have died but over 71 million have recovered – that is astounding good news. We focus on the deaths but, with no intention of trivializing the deaths, we must celebrate that over 71 million have recovered. Let us not forget that there are now several vaccinations available – vaccinations that were quickly developed and made available for this new virus. While roll out is not as smooth or swift as we would like, there is a concerted effort to make it happen across national and political lines. These are facts we could and should celebrate.

On the eve of the US presidential inauguration last week, there was a ceremony of remembrance for the over 400 thousand Americans who have died. Joe Biden, then President elect said, “We must remember, remembering is hard, but that is how healing begins.” So let today be a day of remembering, and know that with remembering begins healing. We mark this day, not to dwell on the past, not to dwell on the dire state of affairs, not to languish in the bad news but to remember and to continue to live forward with whatever optimism and hope we can muster. The poet Rumi wrote, “When the world pushes you to your knees, you are in the perfect position to pray.” That may be all we can do. But that will be enough.