Take it from my kid – we can all be superheroes in the COVID battle

While my 10-year-old spent his school holidays shut up in his room with COVID-19, trying not to infect his siblings as they recovered from RSV and pneumonia (yes, that really was how good our break was), he set about writing a picture book.

On the cover, the protagonist – his five-year-old brother – is dressed as a superhero, surrounded by images of encroaching green germs. The boy’s aim: to kill this COVID bug that is destroying all their plans, taking away loved ones and leaching their childhood of the vibrancy, hope and innocence they so desperately deserve.

Marisa Black’s 10-year-old son wrote a superhero book about fighting COVID, featuring his five-year-old brother as the hero.

At the beginning of the story, the kid is confused – what is this bug that everyone is talking about? Is it a hungry green caterpillar? A cute little ladybird? A terrifying, brain-sucking spider? The boy sets about trying to catch it but is quickly told by the grown-ups that this is a bad idea, and instead, we all need to hide from it.

The protagonist is disappointed. This doesn’t align with his superhero intentions – the vision he has of saving the day and returning the world to its former glory. If all we can do is run and hide, how does he have any power against this bug?

Ultimately, a wise old relative tells the little boy that he does have power: the power to protect himself. The same superpower that we all have, even us mere mortals.

The book then evolves into an informative guide to how we might go about staying safe and powerful: wearing masks (especially indoors), remembering to socially distance, getting our vaccinations when due and staying vigilant – for villains thrive on our complacency.

Riding out this third COVID wave is in our own hands.

After reading a draft, I was tempted to suggest one little edit to the end – to add in, “Don’t wait to be told what to do, just use common sense and work it out for yourself”, but restrained myself. Better to keep the politics out of the health messaging.

We spent two years being told what to do by politicians following health advice. In some ways, it made things easy – we didn’t have to feel responsible for those impossible decisions, the weighing up of competing demands.

Now, we’re just told a bit about the medical advice they’re not mandating. Any clear leadership is deafening in its absence, leaving the healthcare system buckling under a surge in COVID-19 hospitalisations, with the anticipated peak still weeks off.

But as my 10-year-old already knows, just because healthcare advice is not being enforced doesn’t mean we shouldn’t act like it is. Riding out this third COVID wave is in our own hands. We can choose to be superheroes, or we can be left at the mercy of the villain.

Yesterday, I received my fourth vaccination, at the supermarket I wore my N95 mask and when I met a friend for a coffee, we sat outside. Someone please pass me a cape.