This article was written as a preface to a thematic issue of „Tematy i Konteksty” entitled “Literature in the face of epidemic crisis”. It is the essay addressing the impact, which COVID-19 virus has had on contemporary man and the reality surrounding him. The author, in his deliberations, focused on many aspects of the pandemic: medical, sociological, philosophical, psychological and cultural. A very important element of the essay is an attempt of capture universal social-cultural mechanisms, which are distinctive to a time of pandemic. Another crucial issue addressed in this essay is tracing the cultural and literary paradigms, which are followed in both social and individual aspects of time of pandemic. The other essential matter which was looked into are people’s attitudes taken towards virus itself, other people and themselves.