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EXISTENCE! #Stories4Health

Many people say I originate from Wuhan, China, others presume that I have zoonotic origins or I developed from bats and later pangolins. All I know is that presently, I can be found everywhere. I do not have a name for myself because it’s not important to me. I am one of the strongest of my kind as Homo sapiens found it fit to give me a name. A name I think may identify with me, but has no effect on my personality. They can name me whatever they want to, or choose to. The funny thing is that: giving me a name doesn’t make them know all about me—not even a-third about me. I hear some call me Corona-virus, some say  am a Lungs virus, and recently I am formally called COVID-19(they think I started existing in December 2019).

All I need is a host. All I need is to exist. I actually do not know how I come about, but these Homo sapiens (which are the most intelligent primates) happens to abhor me. I intend to live as they too are living, but they want to make me extinct forcefully. I simply ask for an opportunity to survive, to exist, to live, to breathe, and to multiply. I am very tiny (microscopic) and non-living, but as soon as I find a host, I become alive. Homo sapiens happens to be the host I love to inhabit. This is due to the fact that their organic system structure fits my anatomy and physiology perfectly, making man a fecund field to breed. There are so many of mankind, and so few of my kind. I do not hate humans, but I noticed they hate me so extremely, perhaps they know I cause respiratory disorders amongst them. I do not force myself into their systems, I only enter when there is a chance. They keep saying am a global pandemic because approximately 10.1 million people have been acquainted with me, but unfortunately 500,000 host had stopped breathing.  I am not the first disease or infection that has come upon mankind. My other siblings such as SARS, Ebola, Lassa fever and Bird Flu etc. had all enjoyed their time and seasons, why is my turn different?

I am not air-borne neither am I water-borne. I am more like the average weight and size of a typical molecule. I am a ‘VIRUS’. I can be displaced or removed from a surface by alcohol or the danger liquid they call ‘HAND SANITIZERS’. I hate HEAT so much as it can destroy much of my cells especially HOT WATER. This is the factual reason why I cannot easily thrive in Africa. I flourish so easily in other temperate regions of planet Earth such as Europe, America and Asia etc. Flowing/running liquid especially water sweeps me off from any surface I attach myself to. I can gain entrance into my hosts (Humans) through major openings around the head via the nose, eyes or the mouth. Once I enter the host, I struggle to find my way into their lungs, where I manifest and begin to breed. I multiply easily in the lungs as it serves as a convenient chamber for me to take over the host. I do not manifest immediately in my new host, I have an incubation period of 14 days. I prefer a host with a weak immunity so that the white blood cells will not be an antagonist to my propagation. It has come to my observation that whenever I occupy the human lungs completely, after a little time, I suddenly do not feel the flow of blood, oxygen and carbon dioxide in my host’s system any more. Sometimes I wondered what had suddenly happened to them. I think they mysteriously stopped living, hence the need to find another host immediately…

Ever since my grand appearance, I noticed that Homo sapiens no longer live their normal lives. They are maintaining ‘SOCIAL DISTANCING’, thereby reducing the opportunity for me to find more hosts. This distancing makes them maintain at least ‘1 METRE’ distance apart. They also use some kind of cover on their nose-mouth area in which I hear them call ‘NOSE MASK’, so as to prevent my entry through those facial openings. I enjoy some dancing in the air whenever they seem to ‘SNEEZE or COUGH’. When that happens, BOOM! There I am out there as droplets. They do not want me to survive or exist anymore. Recently, I rarely see man move about as before, they have all locked themselves in their homes, thereby minimizing usual movements as well as contacts. The ones that do move about have their nose masks and gloves on. If I do not keep having hosts, my number will be diminishing, I will become weaker and my presence threatened. One of the worst part is that man can now detect my presence in any of my host using some technical device they call ‘TEST KITS’.

 More so, my presence can also be detected by the ‘SYMPTOMS’ displayed by my hosts. I try as much as possible to subdue those symptoms and make it subtle, but their intelligence surpasses my understanding. High fever, dry cough and tiredness are the most common symptoms; while aches, sore throat, diarrhoea, conjunctivitis, headaches, loss of taste or smell and a discoloration of fingers or toes are less common symptoms of my victims.  A large number of my infected victims had been kept in solitude or ‘ISOLATION’, undergoing a stage named ‘QUARANTINE’, so as to reduce my easy spread. I really need people to socialize and hang out together as usual in great numbers so I can multiply. Clubs, schools, games and sporting activities had been shut down! So many a people are afraid for their lives, some large numbers do not still believe I exist (ha-ha!).

I still have some hope of survival. I still have a chance to exist because no ‘CURE’ has been found yet. In contrast, I think my time is short.  Man is doing everything possible to completely remove my kind from the face of planet Earth, especially those set of heroes who constantly stand in the ‘FRONTLINE’, wearing white overalls and sacrificing/risking being a victim in order to save those affected by my tender kiss of love. It is obvious they are doing everything possible to bring about my total annihilation, to bring about my end. I fear my existence is threatened, my extinction is near, and my hope is bleak. My time is running out, I wish man exists in other planets so I can take my leave. Its a tug of war between Mankind and I, we are both fighting each other to survive, to exist.

Behold! Two situations are staring at me straight in the eye: EXISTENCE or EXTINCTION,

I think the latter is certain…

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Written by Udeme Akpan (0)

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