LETTER FROM HAPPY ENGLISH SCHOOL Oct. 4th, 2023

Hello. How’s everything? It is still muggy during the day time, and what is worse, the coronavirus, the flu, the adenovirus and the RS virus are spreading. It is said that since the pandemic breakout, we have been more vulnerable to infectious diseases because we haven’t been exposed to various kinds of pathogens due to intensive sanitization, mandatory mask-wearing and frequent hand-washing for prevention. Indeed, we seem to have become more naïve about harmful microorganisms.

In addition, we have come into closer contact with people as we do not care about keeping social distance nor about ventilation these days. Moreover, the number of foreign visitors is increasing after the relaxation of border measures, and at the same time, the number of Japanese who make domestic trips or overseas ones is rising sharply, too. Therefore, it is natural that more infectious diseases are spreading around the country.

These days, I often hear that some classes at elementary school are closed because of the spread of the coronavirus and the flu. It is really challenging to coexist with germs, bacteria and viruses. We really need to enhance our immune systems to fight them and to preserve the environment after all. Only protecting ourselves and living in bubbles are not likely to help us survive in the pandemic-prone future, where we may come across unknown microorganisms coming out of the ice caps in which they were trapped for millions of years. We are more likely to encounter new types of viruses that wild animals host as many animals now live closer to us than ever before being deprived of their habitats by human beings.

A dark future appears to loom over us and we need to do something about it for us and the generations to come.

もう10月だというのに日中は暑い日が続きます。そして、悪いことに、コロナやインフルエンザのために学級閉鎖などもよくあるようです。コロナの終息は、あるのでしょうか。感染予防が進むと、他のウィルスや菌にさらされることも少なくなり、余計に感染症にかかりやすいということになっているようです。そして水際対策も緩和され人の交流が増えたのも、感染が広がっている理由でもあるでしょう。

免疫力を高め、病気にかかりにくい身体づくりが求められます。また環境破壊のせいで、今までなかった感染症を引き起こす微生物と出くわす機会が増えるといわれています。凍土に閉じ込められていたものや、生息地を奪われて行き場を失った野生生物に寄生していたもの。そういう新顔たちを私たちの身近なところで目にすることになるかもしれません。自然と調和し共存することは、今まで以上に待ったなしの課題です。