It may seem like COVID-19 and the dystopian reality that comes with it is the new normal. For many Israelis, the situation is even more surreal. Prior to March, Israelis were preparing for our third election within a year. Novel coronavirus was first identified only on January 7 and on January 11 China announced its first death from it. On January 12, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported a case in Thailand; by January 16, Japan reported its first case; by January 17, a second death was reported in Wuhan.
Other countries such as the US, Nepal, France, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam and Taiwan confirmed cases over the following days. In the span of just a few weeks, we were witnessing the beginnings of a pandemic. We went from passing out fliers and hanging election banners to in-home isolations, Zoom conference calls and early Passover cleaning. In times like these, we all look towards our leaders for direction.
