Viruses have been a plague on the human race forever. The common cold, of course, is the most familiar virus of them all, but even a cold can be deadly. Beethoven caught a cold when he was going to visit his mother on a freezing winter night, and he died. But there are at least five thousand more of these aggravating little monsters and, as we’ve seen, they keep changing and improving their ability to cause trouble.
I can claim that I once played a tiny part in the eternal battle against viruses. Fifty years ago, as an impoverished graduate student, I spent two weeks as a paid volunteer at an establishment called The Cold Research Center near Salisbury in England. It was a perfect getaway, because we were human guinea pigs held in complete isolation for the duration of the experiments. They tested whether we could catch the virus by being wet or chilled, or by sitting in a draft, or even by having the live viruses inserted into our noses.
To protect the integrity of the experiment and the health of everybody else, we were quarantined in old army huts in the middle of a vast, empty plain. The accommodation was simple, and there was nothing as luxurious as a television, or even a radio. The memory of those isolated weeks set me thinking about our present situation, and how we can make the most of it.
This could be seen as a preview of the leisure society we’ve been hearing about for so long. What do we do when we have nothing to do? Quarantine is a challenge and an opportunity. We can’t do much to improve the body indoors, although gentle exercise like Tai Chi couldn’t do any harm. But a little quiet time might allow us to improve the mind. I hope you remembered to stock up with books as well as toilet rolls, because the libraries are closed and books are essential. This is a wonderful self-educational opportunity to catch up with the latest novels, learn a new language or to dive into some scientific or historical field that you never had time to explore before. There are thousands of online courses and, for relaxation, an unlimited supply of beautiful music – on WSHU of course.
If improving your mind doesn’t appeal to you, there’s daytime television, which will have exactly the opposite effect. And there’s always sleep. Statistics tell us that 35% of Americans don’t get nearly enough sleep. Here’s your chance.
My own long-ago encounter with quarantine stays in my memory as a time of great peacefulness, when I slept a lot and read a whole heap of books with no distractions. I survived the tests and treatments without so much as a sneeze, and left my solitary confinement at the Research Center rather proud of my part in this great humanitarian medical enterprise. Immediately after leaving I caught a terrible cold from somebody on the train.
That’s the way it is with virus research – a game of scientific hide and seek that never seems to end. My personal contribution to the research was negligible. There are as many common colds as there ever were, and more viruses of every kind. But I have no desire to volunteer as a guinea pig for the latest novel virus. I’m staying home, hoping to improve my mind.
Copyright: David Bouchier
