Besides their limited value in containing the virus, lockdown policies have been harmful in many ways. The harm to children of suspending in-person schooling is dramatic, including: poor learning, school drop outs, social isolation, and suicidal ideation.
The health impact, other than the direct virus infection, was not anticipated. Doctors and patients have put other health issues “on a back burner” because of fear of exposure to the virus. A recent study confirms that up to 78% of cancers were never detected due to missed screening over a three-month period. If one extrapolates to the entire country, 750,000 to over a million new cancer cases over a nine-month period will have gone undetected.
Beyond hospital care, the CDC reported four-fold increases in depression and a three-fold increase in anxiety symptoms. It was shocking to hear of the increase of drug overdoses and suicide. The American Medical Association has reported that domestic and child abuse have been skyrocketing due to the isolation and loss of jobs. Given that many schools have been closed, hundreds of thousands of abuse cases have gone unreported, since schools are commonly where abuse is noticed. We learned a lot about the fall-out of the lockdowns, some too late!
This is not a thorough report of the impact of COVID-19, but being reminded of this, our sigh of relief grows deeper when the reports are coming that the number of virus infections is diminishing. We have learned a lot, but……will we have learned some of the most important things?
Will we have learned that disease is ambivalent to race, status, economics, or education? There have been signs of disparity of vaccine availability and medical attention, but none of us have escaped the threat. The threat is not selective; we all stand equally before her.
Will we have learned that personal relationships and human touch is one of our most impactful needs? We are social creatures. Poll any group of people and you will hear, “what I have missed most is being with, hugging, shaking hands.”
Will we have learned that the church is not something that can be fully communicated and transferred via technology? Live streaming our worship and teaching has served us well, and we are grateful for the resources of technology. But any faith community, and particularly the Church as the “Body of Christ,” is defined and experienced communally. When considered rightly, there is no” solitary Christian.”
Will we have learned that isolation can be debilitating, even destructive, but solitude can be a positive dynamic for creativity and wholeness? I have produced more (hopefully good) writing, and have thought more deeply about the issues confronting the nation and the church of which I am a part than I ever would have apart from the solitude regulated by the virus.
Will we have learned that we need to be more aware of, and attentive to those persons with whom we live daily in family? 24/7 with family or a few people reveals needs, habits, hidden dimensions of relating that we may normally ignore. Recognizing, responding to, affirming and/or challenging has the possibility of making us more whole persons; and our life together more life-giving. To be loved in general will never meet the deepest needs of our lives. We must be loved in particular.
The expansive and awful impact of the virus is diminishing, and lockdowns and restrictions will come to an end. But not yet! We have time to practice the things that are potentially being taught.