Camus During COVID19 Days

There are a number of books which I feel a need to read more than once. Number one on that list is Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, followed by Hunger  written by Knut Hamsun and Camus' The Stranger, which I recently reread.

Upon finishing The Stranger, I thought I'd like to reread The Plague and even though it was difficult finding an ebook copy, I was finally able to download a pdf. which I converted to mobi.  Like many others, it seemed appropriate to me to read it again during this time of covid19.

While you'd imagine many similarities, there are actually many differences between life in Camus' Oran and the quarantine we're currently living under in Negros Oriental.

The obvious difference is in the diseases. We're living in the age of covid19, while the disease in Camus' novel is the bubonic plague. In the novel, the town of Oran is closed, but there, the only people experiencing quarantine are the actual victims of the plague. Those who do not have the disease are free to move about outside the home; cafes are not closed, nor are the cinemas. There is no "social distancing".

Here in our province, we are under what is being called an Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ). No one is permitted to leave their home except for essential needs, and then only one person per household is allowed outside. Each household is allotted one pass which can only be used on a limited number of days per week, and only for a limited number of hours on those days.

In Camus' novel, while not dying in the streets, many people are dying every day during the height of the epidemic. As of April 07, there have been only 4 confirmed cases of the corona virus in our entire province, with 2 deaths from the disease. These cases were some time ago. No recent cases have been reported.

There are several rumors floating about on Facebook as to when our ECQ will end. I won't repeat those rumors here, as I have no way of verifying any of the reports.

I suppose some might say that our response to covd19, when compared to earlier responses to plague, is out of line and over board. I can't say. Staying home now seems appropriate, although an extreme lock down does appear to be a bit much.