To the Editor:
Yesterday, after six months of studying abroad in Spain, I unexpectedly returned home. In the span of a week, my plans — and the stability of an entire country — were upended by COVID-19. Given Europe may be a harbinger of the situation developing in the US, there are several lessons from my surreal experience I’d share with my fellow Americans and Wyomingites.
In Spain, the situation deteriorated overnight from business and class as usual, with an added dash of hand-washing, to a bona fide national emergency. I spent my last several days there holed up in a Madrid hotel room eating out of cans, hoping to get on one of few flights out of the country while grocery stores, public transport and hospitals showed signs of strain from the pressure of over 15,000 cases and a country under near-total lockdown. No one saw that coming.
Listen to the experts. Prepare accordingly, and share resources instead of hoarding. Be proactive about practicing social distancing. Local, state and federal policies in the US have been uncoordinated and delayed, and measures like staying home and avoiding large gatherings have to happen BEFORE they seem necessary in order to be most effective.
In Spain, similar to California, New York and other states, orders to stay home carry the weight of law, punishable by fine or arrest. While we hold our freedom of movement dear, take any “recommendations” seriously: lives depend on your choices. Young people especially need to stop operating under the assumption the virus will do them no harm, because it can, and THEY could do serious harm spreading it to others. We need to think collectively, not individually, in order to flatten the curve and save more lives.
If all this leads to an Armageddon-style free-for-all, fighting over toilet paper and shooting dirty looks at anyone who coughs, stop for a minute. Right now, we must extend every help and kindness to each other we can — to family, friends, neighbors, strangers. Even in the grip of this fear and uncertainty, the people of Spain are taking time to express gratitude and hope: every night, they come out onto their balconies or to their windows and clap for the healthcare and food workers, a powerful gesture I was proud to take part in.
Let’s follow their lead. We need to take this pandemic seriously, but without losing our heads. Or hearts. We can get through this as a community.
Elizabeth Chambers
UW Junior
