The whole country is in a state of turmoil due to the Coronavirus. Meetings are canceled, and people refrain from going out. Tourism and dining industries are directly hit, and manufacturing, connected to the global production network, is also facing a major challenge. The Virus also affected the education community. So most universities have put school opening off two weeks, and their whole classes of the first semester might be operated through online.
What should we do now? I can think two aspects. Make every effort for infection prevention and personal hygiene. At the same time, do our role at the position. The problem is that the two are in many cases conflicting. Obviously the best ways to prevent infection is cleaning and cutting off contact with the society to which we belong. But we form network with others in order to properly carry out the role in society, interaction and cooperation is indispensable.
It is up to us finding a balance, between two conflicting aspects. Why? It is because each individual knows best where his/her balance must be set under different situation and environments. Nevertheless, the point is that we have to do our best for accomplishing both under the restriction. In other words, we should fulfill our roles as well as possible, amid efforts to prevent infection. This attitude is a responsibility assigned to all of us, as the current difficulty we have will be reduced by combining the effort of each individual.
Obviously, this virus outbreak is powerful and has the power to shrink us. Perhaps this situation will last until a cure or vaccine is developed. Nevertheless, it is necessary to keep our position consistently while doing what we ourselves can. While the early termination of the Coronavirus outbreak does not seem possible, hopefully we can overcome the difficulty through our respective, proper and mature responses. I pray for each of us, the society we belong to, and the neighbor countries, to overcome the pain, not too late.
Shin Sang-yoon
[Professor, Department of Entreprenurship & Small Business]