Nowadays we are having vacation or staycation due to the widespread of Covid-19. Amid lockdown and self-quarantine, smiles and laughter look like a thing of the past. The disease has become talk of the world.

Phone a friend and he or she will narrate how ‘deadly’ the virus is. Pick up the newspaper or switch on the television, and you would listen to the news about rising death toll across the world. Even social media is being bombarded with a flow of indigestible information.

The scenario tends to make us all lose hope. Fear of the disease constantly tries to conquer us and seems almost invincible. Fortunately, all is not lost.

During this hard time, we have to keep a watch on the words we utter in our day-to-day conversations. If we mind our words about this fatal disease, we can minimise the outbreak of fear, anxiety and hopelessness associated with this pandemic. Believe it or not, careful usage of words can be a weapon against the global despair the health crisis unfolds.

Better take care of how you think about and interpret the bleak present scenario in front of your friends, family and the people around you. A considerate selection of words can wipe away melancholy. It can invest hope in those for whom you care and in your own self.

Let’s have a look at what you to say and what not, in order to fight the enemy, foster hope and beat the air of despondency.

Don’t say: Hundreds of thousands of people have died due to Covid-19.

Say: The rate of deaths due to coronavirus is significantly lesser than previously estimated. It ranges from two to four percent only.

Don’t say: Covid-19 spreads very quickly and everyone is vulnerable.

Say: We can save ourselves from Covid-19 through social distancing, staying home most of the time and improved hygiene.

Don’t say: I have been suffering from self-isolation for the last two weeks. It’s almost unbearable.

Say: The self-quarantine period would shorten as Covid-19 is set to be on the downward trajectory.

Don’t say: Covid-19 makes the flu transform into severe pneumonia.

Say: A number of the cases of Covid-19 do have symptoms beyond cough and mild fever.

While avoiding misinformation, we all must concentrate on the bigger picture of this crisis. It is certainly not a time of happiness. But, this is an opportunity for us to spread all the positivity we can at this critical time.

We have to have belief and assure our friends and family that together we can defeat this enemy till it is gone forever. Instead of succumbing to gloom and desperation, we must make one another believe that this era will soon be no more.

So let’s light a candle of hope till it returns to us and lightens our own hearts with the hope that this pandemic is doomed to become a mere part of history.

As the quote says, ‘Tough times don’t last, tough people do.’

Published in Dawn, Young World, May 2nd, 2020