Popular Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie has revealed what it’s like for her living in the United States in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
She says she has been doing some reading to distract her from what’s going on around her, and that she’s selective of what she reads.
Adichie is based in the US where she resides with her family. Her husband is a medical doctor. She disclosed that she worries for him each time he leaves home for work.
The ‘Purple Hibiscus’ writer bared her thoughts on social media, saying:
“Coronavirus is a menace in the air, a menace inside our heads. Every day I am reminded of how fragile, how breakable we are.
My husband is a doctor and each morning when he leaves for work, I worry. My daughter coughs and I worry. My throat itches and I worry.
On Facetime, I watch my elderly parents. I admonish them gently: Don’t let people come to the house. Don’t read the rubbish news on WhatsApp.
In these pandemic-blighted times, living with a medical professional who so far has diagnosed two positive cases, in an American state being told to brace itself for an onslaught of more cases, my goal is to feel anxiety but not allow it fester into paranoia.
And what helps me is knowledge. The news can be emotionally exhausting and can inflame anxiety, but it is important for me to educate myself. I am always careful about my news sources.
And I make an effort not to read only about the coronavirus. I have just started reading ‘Selected Poems’ by Kenneth Fearing and a wonderfully honest memoir, ‘Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning’ by Cathy Park Hong.
“I am listening to the great Bill Withers, may he rest in peace. I wish you all strength and as many moments of tranquility as possible.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are over 250,000 COVID-19 cases in the US, with more than 70,000 deaths.
