Lessons from COVID-19 – Part 1

COVID-19 is a pandemic that shut down nations of the world in the early 2020 and lasted till around the middle of the same year. The Coronavirus that is responsible for Covid-19 was discovered in Wuhan, China. It has spread rapidly around the globe since its first identification in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The causative virus is called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and the World Health Organisation (WHO) named the new epidemic disease Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). The incidence of COVID-19 continues to increase with more than three million confirmed cases and over 244,000 deaths worldwide. There is currently no specific treatment or vaccine against COVID-19. Therefore, in the absence of pharmaceutical interventions, the implementation of precautions and hygienic measures will be essential to control and to minimise human transmission of the virus.

Important personalities of the world were not left untouched in the ravaging pandemic. Some were lucky to get over the sickness, while others could not make it through. Some of those that tested positive are Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain, Abba Kyari of Nigeria and H.E Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, among others. While persons like Johnson, Akeredolu and others were able to get through after initially testing positive, personalities like Kyari, Ajimobi and others couldn’t get through, even with the state-of-art medical attention they received.

Within the period the pandemic persisted, it taught the entire world a great deal of lessons. The lessons are herein discussed.

• There were families where neither the fathers nor the mothers had time and attention for their homes, as they did during the lockdowns. Couples that were living like cats and dogs before the pandemic were forced to stay together for the period the lockdown existed. This indirectly preaches the gospel of peace and reconciliation, which is so important. Unit, peace and reconciliation are three things that are interconnected. COVID-19 taught us to ensure peace within our homes.

(The Rt. Rev. Dr Isaac Oluyamo, JP, is the Anglican Bishop of Ijesa North Diocese)
TO BE CONTINUED