Coronavirus deaths are a reminder to stay safe

By NJOKI CHEGE

The New York Times’ May 24 front page and headline was its most powerful yet in recent history.

To mark the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths from Covid-19 pandemic, the ‘newspaper of record’ chose to honor and eulogise the Americans who had died from the pandemic (at the time of publishing, this number was slightly short of 100,000 and it was anticipated that the number would reach 100,000 by end of May).

A team of dedicated New York Times journalists, led by Simone Landon, pored through the obituaries and death notices of hundreds of newspapers across the US to compile a powerful list of those who died from the virus.

Tired of the data and the daily updates of new infections and deaths, the journalists decided to put names to these statistics: they wanted to know who were these people? What did they mean to their loved ones? What legacies did they leave behind? 

What they found was that the 100,000 deaths were ‘An Incalculable Loss’ – a powerful headline, making that project one of the most profound journalistic enterprises that will be remembered for decades to come.

VIRUS BURDEN

So far the US is leading in confirmed coronavirus cases, at over 1.7 million infections and coronavirus-related deaths in addition to passing the 100,000 death mark. The deaths, in a span of three months, means an average of 1,111 coronavirus related deaths per day, which is indeed an incalculable loss.

In Kenya, we recorded the highest number of new infections on Thursday at 147, bringing the total number of infections to 1,618 and death toll to 58.

Both 100,000 and 58 are huge numbers by any measure. Let us get some perspective on the 100,000 lives lost.

If we were to put all those people in a plane, they would fill up 182 Airbus A380 aircraft, if each A380 would accommodate at least 550 passengers. If you contextualise the number of deaths in Kenya, that would be about four 14-seater matatus and nearly an entire 62-seater bus.

BEYOND NUMBERS

To bring it even closer home, 100,000 is over 60 per cent of the population of Malindi town, which currently stands at about 162,000. This means that if all these people lived in Malindi, six out of 10 would have died from the pandemic in the first three months. Within four months, an entire town — like Malindi — would be completely wiped out by this pandemic.

These comparisons are not meant to scare readers. If anything, they should scare you into social distancing and wearing a mask. The perspectives are meant to remind us that 100,000 and 55 are not just numbers. They are people. These are mothers, daughters, fathers, sons and loved ones of people — some who are reading this — who never got to say goodbye.

I had to bring us to this sobering reality because I have seen some complaints that the daily briefings on new infections and deaths are now becoming ‘boring’ or ‘mundane’.

But this couldn’t be a more mistaken approach to the pandemic. For the record, there is nothing ‘mundane’ or ‘boring’ about the daily coronavirus updates the ministry so painstakingly puts together.

SOBER UP

If you feel that these briefings are ‘too much’, let it be a reminder that this pandemic is real; that anyone can get infected, and worse, people are actually dying in huge numbers as we have seen in New York, Italy and Spain.

For those among us who think that we have had enough, I hope they remember that among the 58 were children, who never lived long enough to achieve their dreams.

There were fathers who will not see the success of their children, as there are mothers who have died, leaving behind families and loved ones.

These numbers, which seem to be increasing every 24 hours, should remind us that our lives are in each other’s hands.

ADVANCE PLANNING

Never before have our actions had a direct impact on the lives and health of those around us. Because wearing a mask and keeping a safe physical distance is now a matter of life and death.

Let these numbers remind us of the state of our public health systems and the need to invest more in preparation for crises such as this.

I hope those who think they are being bored realise that now more than ever, we must take care of each other.

That the lives lost should not go in vain but serve as a daily reminder of the grim impact of Covid-19.

The writer is the director of the Innovation Centre at Aga Khan University Graduate School of Media and Communications. The views expressed in this column are hers; [email protected]