How much longer? 

How much longer till we can leave our houses again? 

How much longer till we can speak to our friends without half our faces covered? How much longer till our phones stop chiming with the death toll every night? 

It’s been over 540 days since the first case of COVID-19 was identified in Sri Lanka. And now we’re in our fourth island wide lock down, with abominable changes created in all of our lives. Needless to say, we as a community and as individuals, are so distinctive now than we were 540 days ago. 

The first lock down was a new experience for all of us. We were excited to not have to go to school or work physically, and we were much more efficient because of the time saved. We would be laughing on House Party with our friends for hours on end; tried to be more creative and painted canvases, tried new workouts from home, started baking, cooking, learning new languages, instruments, and even Tik Tok dances. The virus felt like a story we would hear on the news once in a while when there would be a couple of new cases. We thought life would go back to normal in two, or three months at most. 

Yet here we are more than 17 months later, with no motivation for anything, and a looming sense of depression. Something as simple as getting out of bed to sit in front of a laptop feels like too much of a task. We’re constantly shifting from one screen to another for majority of our time and it’s draining us out emotionally. We’re tired of putting an effort to stay in touch with people we used to meet on a daily basis, tired of the “I miss you”s and the “I can’t wait for this to end”s. It’s nerve wracking to even think about, but the numbers are changing to names now, names we recognize. We’ve found ourselves in a boundless, dark place where we genuinely don’t know if life can ever be ‘normal’ again. 

It’s awful what’s happening, but we need to hold on to that little string of hope that will help us get through this too. Humanity always perseveres and I think it’s essential for us to remember that, now more than ever. We also need to realize that what we’re experiencing is better. It’s better to wear a mask than to be gasping for oxygen in a hospital bed; and It’s better to stay home, than to have to attend the funeral of someone you love.

By Zainab Zikker