The absurd days at home after Covid-19 hit India. (Originally posted on my WordPress blog.)

10 April, 2020

I first heard of the novel coronavirus on the news. I did not think much of it then, but in hindsight, I find the nuisance to be named in poor taste: “Covid*-19*”, like there is an expectation of a Covid-20, Covid-21, and so on. Any remainder of one’s natural curiosity, not totally ravaged by the tyrannical flow of information on the phenomenon, may have prompted one to look up this departure from past nomenclature: SARS and MERS were simpler names, as though a reflection of their times; they had a predictable ring to it and actually sounded like they belonged to the same family of diseases.

Like some other humans, I did not pay much attention to Covid-19 until there was tangible conversation about it infecting my own country. Like the virus itself, it swept the office gossip circuit suddenly but surely, with a premonitory, legendary expertise. A co-worker had just returned from a trip to Italy (his honeymoon). At the time, the country was still in the news only for being the latest “hotspot” and not, as the US is today, a front runner for the highest number of infections.

My immediate reaction was an anticipation of the imminent Work from Home period. Back when I was still striving for adulthood three weeks ago, I was naïvely and faintly excited by the idea of a few weeks at home, welcoming cozy images of insulation from the daily struggles of travel and small talk. Initial reactions at my workplace were similarly half-joking, half-serious speculation about the weeks to come. Groups of three or four would mill around to discuss Covid-19, with some influential members repeating themselves across circles.

“Why did he come back to office?” one person would ask about the traveler. “Couldn’t he have worked from home?”

“I heard he was properly scanned at the airport,” another would say.

“Is that enough? Scanned how?” Such an ignorant member was quite necessary for all the basic questions to be answered by someone else, who'd then be crowned the resident Corona-expert. This expert might begin educating with a squeeze of the hapless sanitizer bottle nearby, by then been deployed across key spots in the office such as printers, elevators, and meeting rooms.

“Well, they are checking temperatures, but that’s not nearly enough. A person may carry the virus for fourteen days without showing any symptoms, risking the chance of spreading it to others.”

“Oh!”