Three people in a serious condition were evacuated from a cruise ship with a confirmed outbreak of deadly hantavirus. They arrived in the Netherlands for treatment, and now the world is looking at a possible lockdown.
The hantaviruses are a group of viruses carried by rodents that can cause severe disease in humans through contact with the saliva, urine, or droppings of infected rodents.
While few people are panicking at the possibility of another lockdown, many anticipate it. People are looking forward to taking a break away from the chaos of work life, while some want to relive that moment of their love life. Although some comments oppose the lightheartedness of these reactions, many people are reacting to the virus outbreak with a lighter perspective to get their mind off the familiar fear we experienced during the COVID era.
The Covid-19 lockdown led to some sweet love stories, and a few women shared their tender memories with us of how the experience affected their love lives.
“If We Lock Down Again, I’m Not Moving In With “Him”—Laura, 31, SA
Lockdown relationships only survived because the outside world disappeared. I know this, because it happened to me. My then boyfriend and I were obsessed with each other during lockdown, but once the outside world reopened, we realized we had nothing in common. The whole time we were fooling each other and were in survival mode. That relationship ended, but never again, please.
“We broke up because we couldn’t escape each other.” Juliet, 27, Lagos
Lockdown intensified the cracks we didn’t know existed in our relationship. I was supposed to be visiting for only two weeks when lockdown was announced. I got stuck cohabiting with my boyfriend in his mini-flat, and boy, that tested my patience. We were both working from home, but not much was done. The stress that comes with idleness, financial anxiety, and lack of privacy quickly turned little situations into explosive annoyance. He was impatient. I was edgy.
“Why are you chewing so loudly?” I said one day at dinner, when I couldn’t bear it anymore. “Did you just notice how I eat?” I’m not sure which one annoyed me the most, the question or the indifference it was said with. “What changed?” he asked me one day, and that question pieced the fragments together in my head. I tried to be more accommodating afterwards, but even that wasn’t enough when we couldn’t escape each other.
On the flipside, not every story was chaotic.
“I got stranded at his house… and we fell in love.” – Esther, 33, Akure
One of his colleagues tested positive for COVID, and I feared he was exposed, and that means I was too, by proxy. So, what was supposed to be a temporary visit became co-habitation. It’s funny now because I see how that helped us strengthen our bond. We learned each other’s routines, cooked together, took walks around the street, and built intimacy in isolation. And even though what we feared didn’t happen, we stayed together till the lockdown was lifted. Well, now we are married with a beautiful baby girl.
I left Lagos for Warri to see my boyfriend during COVID. That trip was crazy. Long story short, we have two beautiful girls, and this year we will be married for 5 years. – @lovebirdvee, X (Twitter)
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“I only packed one change of clothes. I ended up spending four months in lockdown with him.” – Dami, 29, Lagos.
I intended to spend one weekend at my man’s apartment before movement restrictions intensified in 2020. The plan was to spend the weekend and leave on Sunday evening. Instead, Lagos shut down, and I ended up staying for four months. At first, we were practically strangers, barely communicating; I mean, we were just getting to know each other. Then, routines just formed. We played games, argued over our taste in music, did chores, and checked COVID updates together. I honestly believe lockdown removed all the performative parts of dating. I got to deal with the real him. No pretense. We got married last year.
