Was reading my cousin's Facebook wall when I read the most ridiculous thing ever! His ex-wife had called him from the UK asking if he had heard there were stories about him having passed away from Covid...what utter nonsense! She was in a state of shock, and he was having a fit of giggles. In my last post, I wrote how I had lost quite a number of friends and acquaintances but now to hear people are spreading rumours about who has died etc. is the worst! How can people be so cruel but then again I should not be surprised. Some people these days have become the bearers of bad/sad news or what I call Covid Town Criers. They give out the names of the people even before their families have even confirmed they truly succumbed to Covid. Sometimes they did not, but the way the death is announced may insinuate that. Besides if it was death by Covid, so what? I do not understand this stigma surrounding Covid. It is nothing to be ashamed of but in these parts? Hmm....
These are abnormal times that we live in, even more so because the people who are dying are now people whom we know and are in the same social circles. I was watching a news clip about a woman who sells in the market (we call them market women) who was busy explaining to the reporter that Covid was a rich person's disease. She said that the people whom she knew had died from it, were all rich people and she did not know anyone who was poor who had died yet. Rather strange but that was her view on Covid and she was not far from the truth. Is it perhaps complacency that is making the middle to upper class more susceptible to the virus? Oh I know so and so, and I am sure they wear a mask all the time, but however since we are at this funeral or wedding, I shall take off my mask so that I can pose for a few photos with friends. N-O! DO NOT DO IT, KEEP YOUR MASK ON!!
Every now and again I just try and remind the people I come into contact with that they should mask up, no matter what. I was chatting with a driver the other day as he whisked me around town and he was emphatic, he would never get the Covid vaccine because it was made to kill us in Africa. WOW!!! So I had to give him a quick lesson on how vaccines work and why it would be a great idea to have it. In fact I told him, when the vaccines become available here, I would go along with him. Funnily enough it had a calming effect on him and he thanked me for pointing out it was not harmful etc.
You really do not know if your friends or family (who live away from you) are REALLY following ALL the protocols...you know what you do but are you really certain, the others are doing the same? It may sound harsh but that is how we have to behave now because the numbers being published by the Ministry of Health are scary! I heard about a lady whose nickname is Corona police. Why, because she was so strict about her mask wearing and you dared not come to her home or office without your mask on. She attended a family event; an older relative celebrating an important milestone and what did she do? She took off her mask to pose with relatives she had not seen in ages. About a week later, she started to feel poorly so she went to do a Covid test and it was positive.
We all need to be careful and really should try and stay home. I really do hope tighter measures will be announced, especially regarding events because when we move, the virus moves.
Stay safe!
