PEOPLE ARE MORE THAN JUST A NUMBER

in the face of tragedy, humans have a tendency to view the severity of it on the lives lost. but what this does is it minimises those people to just a number; a statistic. it dehumanises the tragedy of losing any life.

and this is what we're currently experiencing with this pandemic. every day reports are being released on those hospitalised and those who have unfortunately lost their lives. when you look at the numbers, you might think that this virus is nothing to be feared - it's cost the economy a lot over the past couple of years and as some people might ask, for what? to save a 'few people's lives'?

from an objective standpoint, i get it. from an emotional one, i do not. what i'm finding with this pandemic is the separation within society; the divide between humans. the first things people want to know when they learn about a hospitalisation or a death is, were they vaccinated? did they have underlying health concerns? it's as though their vaccination status or health history justifies their tragic fate. it's as though it gives us a sense of control in a world where right now, a lot of us don't feel very in control.

and it's easy to do this when we're not personally affected. it's easy to take this 'stand-offish', scientific, numbers approach. but what if one of those numbers was your grandparent? your partner? your mum? your dad? would you still be thinking, "oh well, that's unfortunate"? or would you be devastated?

the reality is, there's still so much we don't know about this virus. and it's the unknown that's scary. no one knows how anyone is going to be affected when/if they get covid-19. whether you're vaccinated or not, to me, doesn't detract from the tragedy of losing lives to this virus. so instead of trying to justify the numbers as though they're a result of individuals' decisions, what if we tried to empathise? empathise with those in fear, those that are hospitalised, or those who are mourning the loss of someone who has passed?

a loss of human life is still a loss of life. please try to remember that.