North Texas Daily

The world stood still in March 2020 as no one knew what to expect from COVID-19. We went from getting prepped for graduations and looking forward to movie premieres to sitting at home staring at the walls. Two years later and there’s a new fear of uncertainty coming around as the global outbreak of monkeypox unfolds.

Living through the grief, job loss and isolation caused by one pandemic is enough. Couple social injustice, climate change and a recession with the spread of another virus and you’ve got a real-life horror film. Currently, there are more than two hundred cases of monkeypox in Texas, with nearly half of those being in North Texas. These cases are just the first glimpse of the fear that twinkled in our eyes with COVID-19.

The fear of monkeypox comes from that same sense of uncertainty. We are being told that monkeypox poses a real risk while also hearing that it is limited, so maybe people should not be so afraid. But what about prevention? The same as before — frequent hand washing and sanitizing, masking and avoiding direct contact with people who have the virus.

Though monkeypox does not spread through people as easily as the coronavirus does, it doesn’t take away the concern people have and the toll that it has taken on them, especially those who are more vulnerable to the disease.

The fear of contracting a deadly virus like COVID-19 was the scariest thing in the world to many. For some college students, the pandemic hit in high school. Proms, graduations and final moments with friends were ripped from them without a second thought. That suddenness is once more a possibility.

Amidst that frightening feeling, it can be comforting to know you aren’t alone. Many grieved the loss of not only events and moments, but the loss of loved ones. It seemed as though time froze for a brief moment, and those who hadn’t always related to each other found solace in common feelings.

But then people moved on. People keep dying every day, and it seems as though we are just supposed to keep going on with life, numb to the pain around us every day.

The desensitization could very well continue. How many will be infected with monkeypox, no matter how much more difficult it could be to catch, before people just stop caring and it becomes another tally section of newspapers and social media sites?

It’s scary, genuinely horrifying and hard to keep a positive outlook, even for those who have hope that things will get better. These are times where it’s hard to find the silver lining — but where there is pain, there can also be healing.

People can look at themselves and see how they carry on. With monkeypox, maybe everyone will go back to wearing masks and sanitizing groceries every time they go to the grocery store. Maybe it’s time to do that, and maybe people will do what they can for the greater good and not just themselves. Nobody has those answers and nobody knows what comes next. All we can do is carry ourselves, do what we think is best and live for the moments we get.

Featured Illustration by Erika Sevilla