One of the Greek myths that has come down to us from antiquity is the story of the Lernaean hydra. The hydra was a serpent-like monster that had many heads. If you cut off one hydra head, two more would grow in its place. Pictures of the hydra appear on ceramic vases that were created around 500 BC. Various heroes fought the hydra, but this only led to the hydra becoming ever more fearsome as its number of poison-spewing, fang-laden heads multiplied exponentially.

Covid-19 reminds me of the hydra. After heroic researchers developed effective vaccines against the original (alpha) variant of the virus, new variants arose that were better at resisting the vaccine than their predecessors. Now we are faced with the Omicron variant. It has rapidly replaced the devastating Delta variant, with affected areas seeing a doubling of infected people every two to four days. It is as if we are battling the hydra. Every time we start to make progress against the virus, it mutates and roars back, more infectious than before.

In the Greek myth, a hero named Heracles arose who was able to defeat the hydra by allying himself with his nephew Iolaus. Together, they were able to defeat the hydra by cutting off each new head as it appeared, and then cauterizing the wound before new heads could appear.

Covid-19 is a fearsome foe. We need heroes if we want to win against it. Lacking Heracles and Iolaus, we will need to rely on all of us to get vaccinated, wear masks, and observe social distancing.

BIO:

Allen G. Taylor is a 40-year veteran of the computer industry and the author of over 40 books, including Develop Microsoft HoloLens Apps Now, Get Fit with Apple Watch, Cruise for Free, SQL For Dummies, 9th Edition, Crystal Reports 2008 For Dummies, Database Development For Dummies, Access Power Programming with VBA, and SQL All-In-One For Dummies, Third Edition. He lectures internationally on astronomy, databases, innovation, and entrepreneurship. He also teaches database development and Crystal Reports through a leading online education provider. For the latest news on Allen’s activities, check out his blog at wwwallengtaylor.com or contact him at allen.taylor@ieee.org