Economy and the Coronavirus
Farewells can indeed come all of a sudden, without preparation. Albert Camus described a dramatic farewell scene in his seminal literary work, La Peste.
Michael J. Ryan, (lefT) Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme and Director-General of the WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, attend a news conference on the coronavirus (COVID-2019) in Geneva, Switzerland February 24, 2020.
In an anxious tone, he talked about an outbreak of pestilence in the city of Oran, Algeria. Oran -- a city without pronunciation -- was struck by anxiety due to a disease outbreak. There people learned what anxiety meant, what confusion meant or life awaited death.
Camus certainly did not write about Wuhan in China, but those who read La Peste can imagine the anxiety and confusion of the people who were isolated in Wuhan. "Separation will only end together with an epidemic," Camus wrote gravely.