An A to Z Coronavirus observational guide. . . D

D

Death, Doom and Destruction

Sorry about these subtitles they are not very cheery are they?  It’s an odd thing, but many will be having feelings of doom by what the virus has done rather than the virus itself. As I have said previously if you are older or have underlying health issues then Death is a serious possibility and so avoiding contact with it is important. However many have no longer got jobs or income and that is scary particularly if you have kids and family. No one likes the unknown and if there is one thing the Corona virus has created for millions of people it is an unknown future that has put homes and future lifestyles at high risk. In fact the future way of life for all of us is uncertain because what this virus has shown us all it the vulnerability of modern society at a global level.

Oooooooo I have to admit as A to Z’s go this is not the most upbeat one I have ever done is it.

An A to Z Coronavirus observational guide. . . C

C

The Coronavirus known as Covid-19

Yes we can now mention the unmentionable Covid-19 because we have reached the letter C. As we all know its origins are in China, almost certainly in a fish and wild animal market; and the result of cross species contamination. China has some awesome history and culture to its name, but sadly is also a land of greed and corruption where many are incredibly poor. This means things we take for granted in the West do not always happen in China and it is thought that hygiene at this market led to the virus leaping from Bats to Humans via possibly the Pangolin. For reasons I don’t understand some Chinese enjoy eating rare and endangered animals and some show no compassion to beasts regardless of what they are. What the leaders of the Chinese nation should reflect on now is just how turning a blind eye to dodgy practices in a livestock market has damaged their country economically for a very long time indeed.

The truly remarkable thing about Covid-19 though is not the fear it instils or its effect on world economic markets, but the speed it can spread at. It has leapt from a market in China to the entire world in a matter of a few months, amazing.  

An A to Z Coronavirus observational guide. . . B

B

Beans and Basics

Well as folk panic across the world from that which we have not mentioned yet because we have not reached the Letter C many things have changed. One of which is folks shopping habits. Now I am not referring to the Panic buying but to what folk are now filling up their food cupboards with. Folk are thinking what will I need to have if I am trapped at home for many many weeks and the answer is stuff like rice, pasta tins of beans, tomatoes and fruit. Flour to make bread, dried or UHT milk and generally things that are not very exciting unless you know what you are doing. If I say so myself I do make decent bread so in order to survive long term all I need after that is a freezer full of Bacon.

What many folk are not thinking about is what will they do with all those emergency supplies when all this is over. I suspect much of it will end up in bins or food banks. Keeping some emergency supplies is not a bad thing but you need to make sure you actually enjoy eating them too. Because a time will come when you will have to consider doing so or it is just wasted money. I mean just how much Pasta and rice can a chap eat.

You can't beat a Bacon Butty

An A to Z Coronavirus observational guide. . . A

A

The Apocalyptic Apocalypse sometimes also known as Armageddon.

To be fair this may be a slight over exaggeration of the situation. After all this virus is only really at its worst if you are old and frail or have serious underlying health issues. No one really wants to be in that situation, but if you are then you definitely don’t want this virus. However 24hr news media needing constant drama plus enough selfish folk putting themselves first have managed to create enough fear to give those queuing up to raid the supermarket just one more time (just in case) a serious sense of foreboding that means they better prepare for Armageddon. And quite frankly what is the point in leaving anything on the shelves of the supermarket if it is the Apocalypse. 

It is better to try and avoid panicking and remember the one thing that gets touched many times a day by strangers which you will grab hold of and never think about is in fact the handle of that supermarket trolley. As it happens because I am writing in advance to avoid to much stress on my A to Z journey I now notice that the masses have also noticed this and everyone is wearing gloves and supermarkets are doing their bit cleaning them. 

And I can see this observational guide ending in Zombies. OOOOoooooo yes.

A Zombie Rabbit