Do you know what I’ve been comparing the COVID-19 pandemic to in my mind? The Y2K bug.
For those of you too young to remember*, the Y2K bug was a programming issue. Basically, it was thought that when the year 2000 started, the world’s computers would not recognise the new date, which would lead to errors and shutdowns.
* I know, I know, I’m only 31, but a friend of mine who is only a few years younger than me didn’t remember this whole thing, so… *shrugs*
The bug wasn’t a mistake, per se, just a result of programmers using two digits to denote a year (e.g. 98) instead of four digits (e.g. 1998) to save computing space.* So when the year 2000 rolled around, computers wouldn’t get the difference between 2000 and, say, 1900. Y’know, that year about 100 years before 2000.
* This was back when computing space had to be measured in bytes and kb, and every character counted. It was…a different time.
This was a small thing, but the potential consequences were huge. Some industries that relied heavily on computers — like banking — noticed the Y2K bug early (in the 1970s and 80s)* and began quietly working to fix it in their sectors. The rest of the programming world began to join in during the mid-1990s, working a little more feverishly because they had less than half a decade until 2000.
* I only discovered this today while researching…as a child, I learned about the Y2K bug in late 1998/early 1999.
Needless to say, once the Y2K bug became common knowledge, everyday people began to get scared. Computers and computer chips are used for or in just about everything: banking, government, hospitals, elevators, cars, pacemakers.
Your average person had no idea what Y2K could mean for them. Some people freaked out entirely; some people said it was a non-issue. My mum thought it was going to be fine but we should be prepared, just in case. In the last months leading up to 2000, we increased our shopping a little, buying a few extra canned goods here, some extra toilet paper there, and some bottled water once in a while. Mum took some money out of the bank and stashed it in the house.
Come November/December 1999, people were starting to get really nervous. I remember supermarket shelves being empty, and people taking money out of the bank and buying camping supplies. Not everybody was freaking out, I suppose, but enough people were that it made a big impact.
So, 31 December 1999 arrives. All eyes were on Samoa and New Zealand, the first countries to tick over to the new time. Most eyes were on Auckland, I think: that’s what Australian TV was showing, at any rate. The clock counted down, the new millennium rolled around and…
…nothing happened.* It was all fine. Crisis: averted.
* I know it probably would’ve caused mass panic, but I maintain to this day that Auckland should’ve cut the lights for 10 seconds. It would’ve been the biggest practical joke in history.
Afterwards, people were like “well, Y2K wasn’t really a big deal then”. People thought it was silly, that we’d all gotten worked up over nothing. But the thing is, it *was* a big deal. The reason Y2K wasn’t a world-shattering crisis is because a lot of work and testing was done by computer programmers in the lead-up. Due to their diligence, the Y2K bug ended up being a minor issue.
The Y2K bug isn’t a perfect analogy for COVID-19, but we can draw a lesson from that crisis-that-wasn’t: We need to be diligent. We need to do the work. COVID-19 is here. It’s not a joke. We didn’t get the lead time for this crisis, or if we did we squandered it. In some cases, in some countries, the lead time is still being squandered.
To make sure COVID-19 doesn’t overwhelm us, we need to take every precaution that we can. We need to be diligent. So wash your hands (with soap, for at least 20 seconds), use social distancing, cough into your elbow or shoulder, and take every recommended measure you can to slow the rate of transmission. Social distancing includes working from home when you can, spending down-time at home unless you have an urgent need*, and staying away from community or social gatherings of any size.
* No, a date or a coffee run is not an urgent need. Urgent needs are resupplying the essentials, medical care, caring for those who can’t help themselves, etc.
This may seem like overreacting, but it’s not. This is the work behind the scenes that ensures this crisis doesn’t become a global catastrophe. If your government or your community isn’t already taking these precautions, you need to. You need to be diligent. Get your family and friends to be diligent with you. Together, we can slow the rate of transmission. Together, we can make sure our resources will stretch to save as many lives as possible.
A specific example of limited resources is right here in Australia. As a country, we have about 2000 ventilators. It’s projected we will need 4000 ventilators to care for those who will become ill (link).
So please: let’s do the work. Let’s be diligent. Take care of yourselves, and look out for one another. Let’s #FlattenTheCurve
For more information, please check out these Coronavirus (COVID-19) resources (link) on Health.gov.au, Australia’s national health website, or seek out reliable, factual sources like your own government’s website or information from reputable medical professionals.
