Last night I watched Outbreak (the movie). It made me think of Covid (the outbreak).
 

I hadn't seen this movie in 15 or 20 years. I had forgot much of it and enjoyed the drama and suspense.

I thought of the patients in Outbreak and the patients of Covid. There is something clearly different and it has been so from the very beginning. I cannot remember seeing a Covid sufferer being sick in front of me. I guess I am lucky in that way.

In a larger way, though, this has been the observation of Covid for most of my friends and family. Most of us has shared that we have seen no one suffering.

None of this is in any way an attempt to say it is not happening -- it is. People are dying, people are suffering long-haul symptoms, and some are even suffering side effects of the vaccine. I'm not contesting anyone's pain.

What I am attempting to share is the stark difference of a pandemic on the Hollywood screen with what those of us outside the healthcare professions are seeing. I hear how bad it is -- I am shown the occasional hospital room with a person on the bed with tubes sticking out of them. A few times I saw pictures of refrigerated trucks outside hospitals -- I never saw inside them, though. I saw long lines of cars waiting for nose swabs. I had co-workers ordered to stay home until Covid symptoms passed.

I know we are in an age where we protect the privacy and decency of those suffering, but.... I haven't seen the faces and the throngs of people suffering. I've just been told about it.

Again, I believe -- that is not the issue for me.

Largely, I have been "sheltered" from the human suffering and it has been a surreal pandemic experience. Even for those who have had loved-ones contract it, the sufferers have been whisked off or quarantined from family and friends. Many never see their loved-ones again.

In the movie Outbreak -- the people had coughs and sores, and you can really see the suffering.

In the outbreak Covid -- I haven't seen the suffering. I don't want to see it, or experience it, but maybe it would be more impactful to us all if we did see it.

Thanks for indulging my stream of though. Maybe you have considered something similar, or, maybe something altogether different. Believe it or not, even with the length of this post, I've left out so much of what I am still thinking about Outbreak (the Movie) and Covid (the Outbreak).

Have you seen Contagion? There’s even some appearances by Sanjay Gupta looking and sounding eerily like he does on CNN.

I see that movie maybe once a year for various reasons.

Thanks for the recommendation.

That movie coined the phrase "Social Distancing"...