Waiting for the Coronavirus: Memories from a Pandemic
How the H1N1 flu pandemic in Mexico disrupted our country, city, jobs, schools, and daily lives in April 2009
The new coronavirus(COVID-19) pandemic has reminded me of the 2009 influenza (H1N1) pandemic in Mexico, commonly referred to as “swine flu”. What I keep in my memory are images, scenes, mental postcards of how the pandemic disrupted our city, our work, schools, and daily lives. Let me share with you what happens when a pandemic is declared in your city.
Disruption
The streets are unusually empty. The few people you see on the streets are using surgical masks, like you. All the restaurants and fast food shops are closed. If you have kids, they can’t go to school but they can’t go to the park either. The people you usually greet with a handshake, a hug or a kiss, keep their distance and say hello without any contact.
What most surprises you in this kind of situation is how you notice all those regular life activities are disrupted by a strange agent.
I think we, the people living in Mexico City, are a little used to having our life disrupted by very strange things. We have had earthquakes, gas tank farms explosions, volcano’s ashes eruptions, and airplanes, and…
