Celebrated author, Chimamanda Adichie, says she is selective of what she reads about coronavirus. Adichie said she has been reading some selected poems to distract herself from the pandemic.
The author, who is based in the United States with her family, said she becomes worried each time her medical doctor husband leaves home for work at the hospital.
In a post on her verified Instagram account, the author of Half of a Yellow Sun, said she bothers when her daughter coughs or when her throat itches.
She wrote, “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.”
According to World Health Organisation statistics, there are over 250,000 coronavirus cases and above 70,000 resultant deaths in the US.