A new word may soon be added to the English vocabulary – “covidized.” Should it happen, it might end up as the word of the year and even of the current decade. Very likely that lexicographers would classify it as a participial adjective and assign the following meaning to it: infected, affected, or influenced by COVID-19.

We may say that persons are covidized if it is confirmed that they are infected by the virus. For those who find the expressions “COVID-19 positive” or “infected by COVID-19” too long, “covidized” is a good alternative, especially for writers who may no longer wish to hit the “caps lock” on their keyboards to capitalize the letters C – O – V – I – D and to not move a little bit higher anymore certain fingers to hit the hyphen and the numbers 1 and  9.

Instead of saying that “the COVID-19 pandemic has affected many parts of the world”, we may simply say that  “the whole world has been covidized” (Yes, except Antartica).  Some countries are more affected by the pandemic than the others. And now that the US has more cases than any other country in the world, we may say “US is currently the most covidized country in the world.” That is if confirmed number of cases is the basis for determining which country is most covidized. Should the criterion be number of deaths, the dubious distinction “most covidized country in the world” would belong to… the US also. But the title “the first covidized country in the world” belongs to China. The last country to be covidized remains unknown. North Korea, reporting only one case (as of the 26th of July, 2020), is the “least covidized country” in the world.

Most of the current policies and decisions governments of countries, corporations, companies, and organizations are formulating and implementing are all covidized. Meaning that those policies and decisions are influenced by present and emerging social, political, and economic realities and trends brought forth by the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The world economy has been covidized and experts warned that we are facing global recession that may be worse than that one triggered by the global financial crisis in 2008. Because of the lockdowns imposed by many of the countries that were covidized, almost all economic activities ground to a halt.  Most people couldn’t work to earn a living. Governments are now providing all forms of assistance they could offer to their citizens. But not all countries have vast resources that would enable them to help their people for a long period of time should the COVID-19 crisis drags on for months or, God forbid, years.

Even if we are not infected by the virus, we are all covidized in one way or the other. Our way of life drastically changed since the COVID-19 wreaked havoc. We are encouraged to wash our hands frequently, to wear masks wherever we go, and to strictly observe “social distancing.” We need to abide by these directives for our own sake. We are also told to stay inside our homes and avoid large gatherings as much as possible. Consequently, most people have not attended church services for a long time now. Church leaders responded by providing their members church services online.

People are advised also to avoid going to theatres, internet cafés, and videoke bars. Their main sources of entertainment nowadays are the Internet, TV, and radio. And since fitness centers are included among the places that people should avoid, they either exercise using whatever equipment they have at home or not exercise at all. In some countries where total lockdowns and curfews are observed,  people are forced to stay at home and are not allowed to go out at night and  to travel even just to the next town or village during daytime.

These covidized advisories are all necessary for our survival. If we don’t follow them, we are endangering our own lives and may be compromising the safety of our loved ones and other people as well.

We should bear in mind  that anyone could be covidized. The virus spares no one. Even the richest and the most powerful are not immune to the disease. It doesn’t respect age as well.  We know that the elderly people are more vulnerable to it but this should not make the members of the Gen Y and the Gen Z complacent. They could get infected also if they are stubborn and careless. Even the healthiest of athletes who are known for their  ultra-healthy lifestyle are susceptible to COVID-19. So, nobody is safe. Anybody could be covidized at any given time.

We now live in a covidized world. We have no choice but to embrace covidized realities and move on.