I feel hopeless and helpless today, says Kumail Nanjiani opening up about Covid anxiety

Known for his otherwise light-hearted jokes, Pakistani-American comedian turned actor Kumail Nanjiani is feeling sombre, as he opens up about the fears of coronavirus and the constant state of worry the pandemic has put him in.

Expressing concern regarding the lack of action being taken, the actor penned down his troubled feelings, helpless with the situation at hand.

"I’m sorry. I’m generally a very optimistic person and have fought to keep positive these last few months. But today is hard. We are heading into a massive Covid spike and the people who are supposed to protect us are doing nothing & blaming us for being concerned," he wrote.

Opening up about how his wife was a high-risk patient, Nanjiani was devastated at how the country and its administration failed to protect its people.

"We’ve been in quarantine for 8 months because my wife is in a high risk group. We feel let down by our country. But it’s not about us. We’re the lucky ones. Over 226,000 people have died. That’s so many families destroyed. People have lost their homes, their jobs."

"And this was all preventable. I look at the Covid cases & deaths in other countries and it feels like they’re in another world. Are they dealing with the same disease we are? I guess that’s the difference. They’re dealing with it. We’re not. We politicised every suppression effort."

Kumail further expressed his distaste regarding the ongoing narrative and how the mask was considered a sign of weakness.

"Wearing masks is a sign of weakness. Protecting your friends, family, neighbours is a sign of weakness. Getting your heart broken every day by rising cases is a sign of weakness. Worrying that the next text will contain unthinkable news is a sign of weakness."

According to him, so much could have been done to prevent the losses, yet, the thoughts of losing his loved ones is keeping him awake and in a state of constant turmoil.

"I guess I have nothing constructive to say. Just be careful out there. I’m afraid we have a couple of bad months ahead of us. And I feel hopeless & helpless today."

"Actually, please respond with worthy organisations we can donate to," he added, hoping to crawl back into optimism midst the ongoing pandemic.