The real threat

So before the pandemic began, Trump was talking of the wall between the US and Mexico, India was talking about the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and who gets to stay in India and not, and the rest of the world was concerned about climate change amidst the perennial problems of racism, hunger, lack of water, and corruption (“An opportunity to challenge the hypothesis,” May 7, Gulf Today).

Has the virus really levelled all of that or are those problems and non-problems only postponed to be pursued with great ferocity when the virus will back out? Do humans realise that we are the biggest virus to the planet and to our own selves? There is no greater threat to humanity than humans themselves.

So the point in question among the myriad points mentioned above is the plastic pollution caused by protective gear. Before the pandemic began the news was awash with whales and other creatures dying because they had eaten copious amounts of plastic. The oceans and land was getting filled with ever increasing amounts of plastic. And now? How much more is added to that pile of plastic on our planet with the discarded PPE, masks, empty bottles of sanitiser and soap?

And yet, do we still feel that the virus is the threat or should we rethink of who actually is?

Besides this the pandemic has given a new lease of life to wildlife. There have been inspiring photos of wild boars descending in Spain, kangaroos hopping along a once-busy street in Australia, etc. Of course, humans aren’t going to stay cooped up in their houses forever, so the ‘other creature’ days are indeed numbered.

Joyce D
By email