• Accustomed to the new normal, we will have trouble readjusting to life before Covid
Image: MERCY WAIRIMU/SHARON MWENDE
When the Ministry of Health announced it was ending the mandate of wearing a mask in public places, the reaction was somewhat underwhelming.
When coronavirus was declared a global pandemic in 2020 and all countries took the necessary measures to curb the spread of the deadly virus, we were forced into a new normal. We woke up on Thursday March 12, 2020, to a distressing speech from the Commander-in-Chief.
I use the title ‘Commander in Chief’ because what followed was the literal application of the saying “beaten into submission”. We were forced to wear masks as soon as we stepped outside our homes. We were made to stand three feet apart, and so on.
Because of the universality of the Covid-19 protocols, we adapted rather fast. The last two years plunged us into an alternate dimension with a new way of living. As the coronavirus slowly starts to dissipate into the flu world, making it an ordinary illness, if you will, the world is reconsidering undoing all the directives set around the virus.
By undoing the mask mandate, which was probably one of the most enforced measure against corona, we are slowly letting go of the fear that practically paralysed us the last couple of years. The world might be redirecting itself back to the old ‘pre-corona’ normal, but as people who lived (and survived) one of the worst pandemics in modern history, we are finding it harder than we expected to let go.
The safety precautions did not just enforce our awareness on the imminent threat that is the coronavirus. They made us aware of our surroundings. We became more alert of what we touched, how we interacted, who was around us and so on and so forth.
By enforcing handwashing in public places or when one returns home, we protected ourselves from more diseases than just coronavirus. We also taught our children healthy habits because of these sanctioned measures.
Aimless hugging and touching was lowered drastically… I am looking at you, Nairobians and college students. People learnt how to greet and ‘embrace’ one another without physical contact. Ultimately, we improved our quality of life by being conscious of our actions and surroundings.
The mask, however, gave us another identity. It allowed us to be invisible in public. Those who are antisocial snickered behind the piece of cloth as they could avoid being seen. There are also those who caused chaos or called for attention without actually being identified. Make-up wearers learnt to do their eyes only and saved a lot of money on products that would have otherwise stained their masks.
Wearing the mask was definitely stifling under the humid extreme temperatures of Mombasa. Wearing it all day was not kind to the skin, either. However, most of us learnt to embrace the mask as we found some unexpected comforts in it. We could leave the house without thinking twice about our facial appearance, as we would ‘hide’ behind the mask.
Our hands would instinctively reposition the mask over the nose when someone coughed near us. We could walk through town with our heads high without the fear of being stopped by someone we know for small talk. We also learnt how to make small gatherings intimate once again without the pressure of having to invite people we do not like because it was a social expectation.
We are looking forward to the days when we can put the coronavirus completely behind us because we yearn for the olden days of travelling freely. No PCR tests, no masks on a 20-hour flight and free movement between countries without the fear of an outbreak. However, a small part of us that has gotten used to the new way of living will have trouble readjusting because as much as we want to forget the last two years, we cannot hide the fact that Covid-19 has changed the way we live.