The whole world is currently fighting with an invisible opponent named Covid-19. Since more and more people are testing positive every day, fear has gripped the nation. According to WHO, more than 200 countries including Bangladesh are now facing the outbreak of Covid-19 cases.
To limit the outbreak, we all have to contribute from our point and also behave responsively. For the moment, the most recommended way to tackle the outbreak of this pandemic is by maintaining social distancing, which means a majority (other than people associated with emergency services) of Bangladeshis need to stay at home.
That means avoiding social or public gatherings, and working (and school) from home. Law enforcement authorities of the country are also working relentlessly to enforce social distancing to limit the outbreak. Although for many, the initial idea of having weeks of break or holidays from regular activities and spending quality time with family seems tempting, the excitement fades rather quickly as boredom kicks in.
This period of isolation or quarantine may turn stressful and frustrating if not managed correctly. The American Psychological Association reports that social isolation can lead to poor sleep, poor cardiovascular health, and depressive symptoms, as well as impairing our ability to focus and manage emotions.
While staying home and practicing social distancing are critical to reducing the spread of the virus, it’s also important to take care of our mental health. We can certainly adopt a few steps just to stay social at a distance and to take care of our mental health.
The majority of job-holders in our country spend the maximum time of the day in the workplace. With the consideration of the traffic of Dhaka city, it might not be wrong even to say that we generally spend more time with our colleagues than our family. The added time we are enjoying now should not be wasted.
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A good way to utilize some of the extra time might be through a workout. We can share some workout routines with friends and brag about the achievements daily. Besides, investing some time in some online courses or skill development activities might also prove fulfilling.
This might also be an optimal time to relive our passion for reading. And for those of us who are not much into books, watching TV or movies might be a good alternative. However, finding interesting content while browsing through the thousands of options that we have on the internet is undoubtedly challenging.
So, we must share and recommend our good views with our friends and family, to keep them well entertained as well. Besides, such shares also open an opportunity for interesting discussions on the contents of the show or movie. Cooking might be another passion for many of us, which has been long lost due to our general overloaded life.
While day to day cooking might seem an annoying chore, cooking for leisure might revive your passion for culinary art. This might be a good time to try and master the traditional family recipes or try some new and exciting recipes from YouTube. Be courageous and awaken that hidden chef in you.
However, for those of us non-cooking folks, ordering meals from restaurants once in a while and enjoying with family or friends through video chat might be a nice thing to do as well. This will not only add a variety to your regular menus but also will ensure some business for the restaurants which are suffering greatly due to the outbreak.
Apart from all the negative aspects of the outbreak, the most positive part might be the added time we get to spend with family. While jostling through life, sometimes, we simply forget the joy of being with family. Finally, in this crisis, helping out each other is the most important task we can do. However, helping others doesn’t always warrant a physical presence.
Our resources, if utilized right, might be enough to help the vast marginalized communities of the country to pass through this calamity with less stress. Behaving responsibly, donating to the trustworthy charities and NGOs or government funds, ensuring payments to our house staff (despite their absence in some cases), and coming to the aid of our aged family members and neighbours might be the best support we can give at the moment.
This is undoubtedly a very difficult time for us, our family, and for the country, and we all need to do our bit to keep everyone safe and healthy.
Aroka Chowdhury is currently working in a leading investment bank in Bangladesh. Email: [email protected].
