Corona was five years ago today

At my home, the TV was on. Like every evening at that time. Maybe I was half-heartedly browsing the Amayzine app, probably. Suddenly, someone walked right through the screen onto the set of the talk show…

I knew it was a deadly sin in TV land, except if there was really something wrong. I sat up straight, my elbows on my knees and the tip of my chin resting in my hands. I nudged my friend. We were alert. Minister Bruins unfolded the note and there came the message. It confirmed what everyone was a bit afraid of, the first corona case was in our country. Now it was real, the virus was inside. No idea what that meant, but it wasn't good.

Forbidden hugging area

Do you remember how you coughed before COVID-19? So nice to have your fist full and with a bit of bad luck, you had to shake someone's hand afterward. Back then, there was literally nothing wrong with that hand, because you were only passing on a small flu virus at most. From the note onwards, it suddenly became not done to hug your grandpa, kiss your grandma, and with a bit of bad luck, even your (my) mother was a forbidden hugging area if she fell into the risk group. Coughing or sneezing? In the elbows. That's something that stuck, just like I no longer get a handshake from the doctor upon entering. Before Bruins' note, I had no idea that even my old familiar workweek would change forever.

I still remember the last average workday so well. At one o'clock, we were still snuggled up close together for the press conference. And suddenly there was the work-from-home advice. Was going to the office not a must? Did you have a job where you didn't have to sit squished together? Stay home. Rutte sounded strict. May looked at me. “Then we'll just stay home tomorrow, right?” she said. Even the most down-to-earth colleague in the editorial team shifted a bit restlessly in her chair. We giggled awkwardly when the metal door rattled shut at the end of that workday at six o'clock. “See you next week,” one called out. “Or in a month,” the other responded. Little did we know.

Normal and weird at the same time

Today is five years after Bruins' note. Five years since I rolled out of a carnival week with the worst flu ever and sat on the couch sniffling. Five years since hospital wards were filled with COVID patients lying on their stomachs. Five years after the applause for our healthcare workers. Five years since there was no toilet paper or canned green beans to be found in the supermarket. Honestly, how many glass jars of Hak do you still have in the cupboard from that time?

Coughing or sneezing in your elbow, washing your hands often, keeping your distance when you're feeling flu-like, and also the three kisses finally went overboard. Just a few things that, according to RTL's research, remained after the end of the crisis. This morning, I happened to pump some disinfectant from the public bottle after a funeral. That felt normal and a bit weird at the same time. Oh, if Bruins had only known back then what that note would change forever.