Relative Joy

When I created this blog, it was designed to write about the random thoughts on everyday life that would bring us joy.

The title called Relative Joy for You was culled because Joy in itself is relative.

What may be good for the goose may not necessarily be exhilarating for the gander. And that’s pretty much what life is about. Relative Joy.

In December 2020, when the World Health Organization finally officially acknowledged the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in China (after much skepticism on the purported ‘rumors’ in the Chinese press), this blog initially provided some information on the beginnings of what would be a pandemic. In a few months, the world was mired in one global economic and health catastrophe.

Through those difficult beginnings, many friends and colleagues had untimely passed away. Too many. Too young. Too soon.

In the beginning, we learned that mobility would be challenging and masking became a rule rather than exception. Only one nation in the world embraced the concept of a ‘face shield’. In the real world, we all know that ventilation was the most important deterrent of the virus. Those face shields and plastic barriers in the Philippines remained remnants of ignorance of government advisers on the physics of viral spread by an airborne route. In a country once led by an incompetent leader, we all know how the story ended and how much corruption played a role in why those ‘face shields’ insistently remained not mandatory requirements when moving around.

Over the past years several variants of concerns emerged. And several treatment options as well as vaccines as well. Vaccines decreased severity of illness while treatments saved lives.

To say that this pandemic is over is an understatement and of course, a complacent attitude.

Three years have passed and the world has begun to ‘live’ with the virus. Borders have opened and only China was the last to embrace that a ‘zero COVID-19’ policy will never work. Omicron remains the major circulating variant with many sub lineages every now and then.

Today, many countries have changed the way they test and when they test. Policies differ from nation to nation. Testing has not become mandatory and neither has contact tracing anymore. The virus co-exists and will remain to co-exist with us as the true number of daily cases is now a blur. Even those who pass away from COVID-related illness is now becoming a challenge with countries not truly reporting COVID-19 as the direct cause of death in many patients.

With sites like the World Health Organization, OurWorldInData and Worldometers having different numbers coming out of their reports, none of the data is accurate and official.

As 2022 came to a close, the news of COVID-19 surges in China had become an issue among governments globally (either political in nature of a true scientific concern where new variants could potentially emerge). The demand for transparency of cases and deaths emanating from China became the debate of whether border control should be reinstated among citizens traveling from China. After all, reciprocity demands reciprocity. China requires a negative PCR for foreigners to travel to the mainland – vaccinated or not.

As the year came to an end, one thing was certain. People were tired of COVID-19. Lockdowns had hurt the economy, both locally and globally. And it was time to move on.

In 2023, it is time to stop counting the COVID-19 cases in the world…