Veroli Zhimo
The Coronavirus is still a mystery in many ways. Scientists cannot say for certain why it is deadly or debilitating in some people but have virtually no effect in others. They do not know exactly how long immunity lasts or whether (or when) a vaccine will stop its spread.
But they do know this: The virus spreads most rampantly between people who gather indoors, in close quarters, to talk or laugh or sing, without wearing masks. Experts pinpoint the wave of outbreaks now sweeping the globe to such gatherings.
As gut-wrenching as this may be, one of the most obvious ways to mitigate the viral spread would be for as many people as possible to stay home this holiday and wedding season.
In normal times, many Naga families usually travel to their native villages or towns for social events ranging from annual social events, weddings and Christmas celebrations. This year, especially, the need to draw loved ones close feels even more urgent, and the idea of sacrificing one more sacred tradition in a year when so much has already been sacrificed feels deeply unfair. But skipping or curtailing in-person celebrations now is as much a civic duty and an act of solidarity as wearing a mask in public or standing at least six feet apart.
In its latest weekly assessment report issued on November 14, the health department’s Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme noted that throughout November in Nagaland, COVID-19 cases among traced contacts have been surging, not just in a few hot spots but across the state. “Sample positivity rate remains very high which could mean more undetected cases in the community,” it cautioned.
On November 17, the State Government issued an advisory for the conduct of social events, recommending the use of digital platforms like video live streaming, e-card invitation, online account transfer of wedding gift, etc. in order to minimize contact and advising people to keep these get-togethers as small as possible and hold them outdoors if they can.
It’s tempting to view the coming holiday season as a well-earned respite from a year filled with hardships. But, as experts have argued, those hardships are precisely the point. Children have all but lost a year of schooling, small business owners have seen their livelihoods destroyed, and people everywhere have watched loved ones die alone in hospitals, with restrictions related to COVID-19 prohibiting visitors.
Taking unnecessary risks now would be an affront to all those sacrifices. What will have been the point of closing schools, hobbling economies or swapping so many human interactions for so many virtual ones? So much of it will have been for nought if a surge of social events gives way to a fresh wave of outbreaks and, ultimately, more loss of lives.
It’s true that not all gatherings are the same and that individual families can minimize their risks by taking precautions — by keeping gatherings small, by holding them outdoors and by testing and quarantining before and after travel. But those things are all much easier to do for families of means.
What’s more, low risk is not the same as no risk; and when it comes to the coronavirus, risks are ultimately shared. The danger is not individual — it’s collective. The decisions you make are not only about whether you might infect your own grandmother, but also about whether your family gathering will seed an outbreak that could ultimately infect someone else’s grandmother. The more people gather from far and wide, around densely packed tables, to eat and talk and occasionally shout, it’s likely that the more the coronavirus will spread. That’s an irrefutable truth that no amount of wishful thinking or careful planning could undo.
It might also help to remember that, with vaccines and therapeutics progressing through the pipeline, there’s every reason to hope that next year’s holiday season can be celebrated in person again.
If the past nine months have made anything clear, it is that nobody is coming to save us. That is scary, but it is also liberating — because we’re learning how to save ourselves.
While virtual gatherings will never fully match the intimacy of in-person celebrations, perhaps they can pave the way to make holidays look different this year. And in doing so, families can preserve tradition and stay connected without compromising on safety.
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