Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

When this short essay is sent to the editor of the Spiritus, the year 2020 will soon be in the past. The new year 2021 will wait anxiously at the doorstep to be ushered in. The year 2020 will no doubt remain in our memories for many decades to come. We should not be surprised if a three-year old toddler today says in 2050 that one of her earliest memories is that everyone putting on a mask. The year 2020 is an extraordinary year, and for many, it probably is an Annus Horribilis.

The year 2020 is now marked by a dwindling supply of days. Its days are numbered. The inevitable passage prompts the searching question: How will it be remembered? Some would say, it is "a year of misinformation and disinformation",¹ others suggest, "the year of protest music,"² yet another, "the year of the great reset,"³ or "the year of the travel underdog."⁴ The year 2020 has proved to be "memorable" in many aspects. But to most people, and to the global community, the year 2020 will be remembered as the year of corona pandemic.

The World Health Organization (WHO) first declared on January 12, 2020 an outbreak of novel coronavirus, later known as COVID-19, in Wuhan, China,⁵ and on January 30 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), after having received reports of 7,794 confirmed cases in 19 countries including China,⁶ and on March 11 a pandemic.⁷ By then, there were already 118,319 confirmed cases and 4,292 deaths in 114 countries/territories. Within a year, there are now more than 75 million cases, over 1.65 million deaths in 191 countries/territories.⁸

APOCALYPTIC EVENT

In the early months after the announcement by WHO of an outbreak of novel coronavirus in China, in spite of stern warnings from medical experts, many thought it was only a little more dangerous than seasonal influenza, having compared superficially the novel coronavirus with seasonal influenza viruses and the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in 2003.⁹ President [End Page 69] Trump, for instance, was reported saying on March 9, 2020 that "So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!"¹⁰ Nothing can be further from the truth. Given the fact that many countries in December still see new highs in confirmed cases, and that there is so much we still do not know about the virus and the new vaccines, for instance, the effectiveness of vaccination and how long our immune system stays protective after vaccination or recovery from infection, scientists rightly warn that "this coronavirus is here for the long haul," and that there could be annual surges in virus "infections through to 2025 and beyond." ¹¹

On October 13, 2020, a joint statement issued by ILO (International Labour Organization), FAO (The Food and Agriculture Organization), IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development) and WHO highlighted "the intertwined health and social and economic impacts of the pandemic." In particular, it warns that,

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a dramatic loss of human life worldwide and presents an unprecedented challenge to public health, food systems and the world of work. The economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic is devastating: tens of millions of people are at risk of falling into extreme poverty, while the number of undernourished people, currently estimated at nearly 690 million, could increase by up to 132 million by the end of the year. [End Page 70] Millions of enterprises face an existential threat. Nearly half of the world's 3.3 billion global workforce are at risk of losing their livelihoods. ...

The pandemic has been affecting the entire food system and has laid bare its fragility.¹²

The impact of coronavirus is also felt...