COVID-19 itself is just doing what it has evolved to do. To spread, replicate, and spread again. In many ways simply mimicking the organism that it finds a home in. In semantic terms, it is a name we give to a biological entity that now competes with us for the life we believe we want to lead.
But COVID-19 is not just this biological reality that we now stand toe to toe with: it has become the umbrella term by which we package all our hopes, fears, and uncertainties. COVID-19 is the manifestation of the shadow that stalks all of us, both individually and collectively. It is the other, the unknown, the promise of annihilation, the loss of control, …