Viralism
Pandemic is inevitable and humanity has sometimes to face willy-nilly. Humanity underwent numerous pandemics during its long history and the effects of each pandemic were different from the other. Some of them had disastrous effects upon a huge number of people and others were less dangerous, affecting a lower number of people or smaller regions.
Although, the early spread of pandemics is uncontrollable, people can take up preventive measures to expand their opportunities to overcome the pandemic through understanding the biological nature of viruses and then finding a medical solution or protecting themselves by adopting effective preventive measures. Both ways are of a great importance as they played a significant role in facing pandemics and protecting humanity to continue enjoying a prosperous life. However, viralism or the spread of viruses was behind the most dangerous pandemics that humanity encountered.
Viralism also deals with the emergence of viruses, pandemics, viral lifespan, pandemics in people's culture as well as the spread and disappearance of viruses. It takes into consideration different scientific, historical, religious, mental, psychological and social criteria to reach conclusions that might lead to positive results and encourage people to overcome pandemics.
The term Viralism is coined in this essay during the Coronavirus pandemic spread (COVID-19) which influenced the whole world in 2020 and caused a global lockdown that the world has not witnessed since hundreds of years. This pandemic is different from the others due to its widespread and the regions it swept within a short time.
Viralism aims to achieve social stability and settlement through convincing people that humanity has already overcome much more dangerous pandemics. It also submits various evidences that this pandemic will be over and it will be part of the past soon and then we will talk about it as a horrible experience that we had in 2020.
Viralism embodies a significant call for all of people to be optimistic and careful in the meantime, because even if the pandemic ends soon, still many people can be affected by it. If we take up preventive measures, then we can stop or at least restrict the virus spread. If we do not take up preventive measure the pandemic will also be over, but we will suffer greater losses.
The other important issue is to correct the false thoughts and beliefs about viruses particularly during the time of pandemics. Some figures exaggerate in terms of describing the pandemic, saying it is going to destroy the international economy and the commercial systems. Certainly, the pandemic has a negative impact on the different aspects of life, but in the same time, it will be like the other pandemics that hit the world and vanished while humanity revived again and learned a lesson from each pandemic. Definitely, COVID-19 is like the other viruses and it will vanish soon and then humanity will revive and rise once again.
On the other hand, viruses' world is similar to ours since viruses are created by God like any other creatures in the universe. God said in the holy Quran "And there is no creature on [or within] the earth or bird that flies with its wings except [that they are] nations like you" - Al-An'am, 38. Thus, the Creator imposes the same destiny upon all creatures in which creatures undergo three stages before coming to an end, but the lifespan differs from a creature to another.
The first stage is the rising stage wherein the virus or creature starts emerging and usually viruses or creatures are very active in this stage and they fight for having a footprint in the area that they will occupy; either inside the human body or any other areas in the world. The second stage is the stage of strength and widespread and this is the most dangerous stage since the virus is very strong and sweeps everything it faces. In this stage, we usually have more scientific and historical information about the virus and we start fierce battle against the virus, trying to defeat it either by medicine, if we have, or by preventive measures. This stage includes the peak of spread and danger. The third stage is the stage of weakness and disappearance. Every virus or creatures will eventually come to an end, after completing its life cycle, and the losses of humanity depend on the efforts that people exert to protect their lives through medicine or preventive measures which are as important as cure itself.
If we consider the other pandemics that swept the different countries and regions of the world, we will discover that each pandemic had disappeared and left just memories behind it. This definitely means that COVID-19 will disappear soon, but we are still required to take up all possible preventive measures and attempt to find a vaccine for it to lessen the losses that might be caused by the virus. The first pandemic, I am going to talk about briefly is the Plague of Justinian (541–542 AD) that caused the death of a huge number of people. The second one is the Black Death that swept Europe (1348/1349), killing around 20 million persons. The next one is the Great Plague that swept London (1665/1666), killing around 100,000 persons. The first cholera pandemic occurred many times in different areas (1817/1824). The Spanish Flue (1918/1919) killed a very huge number of people ranges from 40 to 50 million persons. Swine Flu broke out in 2009 and lasted for around 18 months, causing thousands of deaths. The Western African Ebola virus (2013–2016) killed thousands of people, and finally COVID-19 that appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, causing above 250,000 deaths until now.
In the Arabian region, many pandemics broke out and they disappeared shortly. The average lifespan of such viruses in the Arabian regions estimated around six months according to many books that deal with history of pandemics which hit the region.
According to the statistics above, every pandemic passed through the three stages and after that it disappeared. After assessing this pandemic in comparison with the other ones, we can hopefully say that COVID-19 will be over by next December, the month that it was appeared in. This is an entire year that can be considered as an average lifespan of similar viruses.
What consolidates these results is the securitization of spread and gradual disappearance of COVID-19 at the present day. The virus has appeared in Chine and it was the first state to declare victory over the virus, and then Italy and Spain and now they are much better than other states although they suffered great losses. In Turkey, the government dealt well with the pandemic despite the fact that some premises of the country continued work all through the ordeal. The country started reviving and counting down for achieving the final victory over the virus. All these results occurred without having an effective vaccine for the virus until now. Therefore, and for the first time, I agree with the American President Donald Trump who stated recently that COVID-19 might disappear before even discovering a vaccine for it.
We need always to be optimistic and do our best to achieve success and the positive results that we aspire to have. We should pursue our life in a healthy and moral way through helping the others who need help and take up all preventive measures to protect ourselves first and then our societies.
The pandemic will be over soon, God willing, and what is required from us in this stage is to cooperate with each other especially with the Health Authorities, as they are the most knowledgeable ones about the pandemic and they are always on the front line of fighting the pandemic. They are always our real supporters and they will lead us towards achieving our ultimate victory.
This essay was published on 3 December 2020.