We must affirm the compelling importance of continuing to adhere to the precautionary measures against Covid-19, no matter what happens. Suppose we are not afraid for our health, in that case, we should do this for the sake of the health of those around us, and in respect and appreciation of the efforts of #TeamBahrain to tackle the pandemic under the leadership of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister.
We must follow these measures for the sake of the sacrifices of the medical and health personnel and all workers on the front lines to protect our dear kingdom from this unprecedented health ordeal.
The pandemic has so far stolen 10 months of our lives, forcing us to transform our way of living, and depriving us of even shaking hands with each other. This virus has become our obsession and our constant nightmare.
We now imagine that Covid-19 lurks everywhere, on the handles of our doors, our car, our desktops, and everything we touch with our hands. We have become like a victim threatened with assassination every time we leave our houses in the morning.
The virus has prevented us from kissing our children and playing with our grandchildren; it has deprived us of lunch or dinner meetings. We miss the noise of the markets, shopping malls, stadiums, and sports clubs.
Now, even our compliments and condolences became via WhatsApp only. Even some of the solutions invented by people worldwide, to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, such as converting their homes into a gym or learning a new skill no longer work after the pandemic continues unabated. People are tired of taking precautionary measures. We witnessed demonstrations in Germany, Spain, and the US, protesting against the precautionary measures.
Some people started exercising more often at home, but other people sat at home eating, sleeping, and watching Netflix; they have become lazy and obese.
Are we now facing only two options? Death by the virus or death due to isolation? The most prohibitive punishment for a person is imprisonment, which means the restriction of freedom and living in isolation. Sometimes the death sentence is more comfortable than the life sentence, which means daily death.
Man is a social being. He is the only creature who is keen all the time to develop communication methods, leading the world to be genuinely a small village through modern transportation and the Internet and recently, the revolution of social media. Amidst all this, Coronavirus has moved humanity back to the life of caves, where a person retires from his world and resorts to his shelter, frightened not from predatory monsters, but this time from an invisible virus.
I sincerely feel that my patience and positivity are running out, as my happiness lies in communicating with people, I love gatherings, I feel overjoyed when I watch a movie in the cinema with people, I find the meal in the restaurant tastier than having the same meal in my office. It is not true that Coronavirus is an opportunity to gather the family and strengthen family ties; on the other hand it has exacerbated family problems, as family members see each other 24/7 with no break to miss each other.
I warn against the calls of some people to adopt working remotely or distance education as a permanent approach in Bahrain, even after the pandemic, using excuses such as saving operating and transportation expenses, reducing congestion, or increasing productivity. Work or money is not our ultimate goal, but rather happiness, and our joy is in communicating with each other.
We refuse to become separate robots interacting via the Internet. We are human beings, and our humanity does not hard-wire us for isolation, because communication is the essence of our existence.