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LOVE IN THE TIME OF COVID-19: Or How I Learned to Relax and Love the Corona Virus
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LOVE IN THE TIME OF COVID-19: Or How I Learned to Relax and Love the Corona Virus There have been so many questions, and so much information that has fallen well short of necessary accuracy. Sadly, the government that plays the most critical role in distributing accurate information in situations of this nature has failed at a level that goes beyond spectacular. That is a topic I will return to later, but first, let’s try to examine some of the most important questions surrounding this pandemic. The questions that have been foremost in the minds of most people are along these lines: Where did this come from? How bad is it? How bad is it going to get? How much danger are we in? Should I be worried? What can I do? How long will this pandemic last? All of these are very valid against the backdrop of a global pandemic. So let’s try to provide come accurate information. I will start with the question, “Should I be worried?” The best answer is probably, you should be concerned. There is still a lot we don’t know about this virus, but it does seem to spread with distressing ease, at least among certain segments of the population. Further, the incubation period is lengthy, often as much as two weeks, so at this point, it is extremely difficult to gauge how widespread it really is at this point. Continue to practice all the common sense measures, and if you are charging into the grocery store, bowling over old ladies to fill your cart with toilet paper, you ARE overreacting. Frankly, if things get so bad that there is a legitimate shortage of toilet paper, we will all have bigger problems than keeping our asses clean. The best course going forward for everyone is to act as if you haven’t, and you have been exposed. In saying that you should act as if you haven’t been exposed, continue all the common sense measures that are likely to help ward off bacterial and viral infections. You should eat healthy, get plenty of rest and sleep, stay hydrated, avoid long periods of exposure to sunlight, reduce exposure to large crowds, and yes, you have all heard this until you are sick of hearing it, but WASH YOUR HANDS regularly using the guidelines everyone can now recite by heart. When battling viral infection, hand washing is probably superior, in the long run, to the use of hand sanitizers and disinfectants. Hand washing with soap decreases surface tensions, something critical to viruses and that reduces the opportunities for them to gain a foothold. Sanitizers and disinfectants are essentially topical antibiotics. Most claim to be about 99.9% effective, which sounds like a good thing and it is. The problem is the 0.1% of viruses and bacteria they don’t kill. Those pathogens are genetically resistant to the active ingredients and they produce copies of themselves that share those resistant characteristics. Consequently, overuse of sanitizers and disinfectants can produce generations of harmful viruses and bacteria that are increasingly difficult to kill and more potentially dangerous to everyone. So use of disinfectants and hand sanitizers can have some effectiveness if done rationally, but don’t use them like you are a heroin addict in a poppy field. Act as if you are infected? Quite simply put, maintain social distancing to the greatest degree possible. If you can work from home, do so. Avoid situations where you will come into contact with large crowds. These simple practices will not only help keep you from becoming infected, if you haven’t been, but will protect others if you have. If you are sick, don’t go to work. Once again, this is simply common sense. Where did this come from? Conspiracy theories hit the internet early on in this pandemic and continue to spread in one form or another. The first conspiracy theories centered on bioweapon labs near Wuhan, and now they have shifted to fingers pointing at the U.S. Army. Neither are accurate, and we have a reasonably good idea where this virus originated. The simple answer appears to be, bats. If you are a mammal on planet Earth, chances are pretty good that you are a bat. They make up nearly a quarter of mammalian species on Earth, so they are a pretty common incubator for viruses that eventually end up in humans. That said, the accusation that they spread to humans through the claim that some Chinese people eat Bat Soup or wide spread unsanitary living conditions in the country are rooted more deeply in racism than reality. The genetic markers of this virus indicate that it probably jumped from bats to another mammalian species about 60 to 70 years ago. There are currently 3 species that are strong suspects. From there, the virus was transferred to humans at the Wuhan “wet markets, where both live and dead animals are sold and sometimes butchered on sight. Crowded conditions and careless sanitary practices at these markets made for a prime opportunity for the virus to make the final jump to humans. One thing that is absolutely certain is that this is NOT a bioweapon. How bad is it? As I write, the virus has now been reported in 49 states and 126 countries, including Vatican City and Hong Kong counted as separate entities. Probabilities are, it is present in every nation on the planet.In the few countries that haven’t reported cases it is more likely the result of lack of testing than absence. This is truly a global pandemic. How bad is it going to get? This is a question that can only be answered by stating, nobody knows at this time. The long incubation period creates the possibility that a lot more people are possibly infected right now than can be reasonably estimated, and symptoms won’t become evident for a couple of weeks. So the number of cases, which is already growing at a nearly exponential rate, could swell enormously by early April. It has been suggested by certain political leaders in the United States that this will simply disappear once warmer weather spreads across the Northern Hemisphere. But that claim is more based on wishful thinking than any base of knowledge. We know that flu is more common in colder weather months than in spring and summer for a variety of reasons. To suggest that this virus will follow that pattern is simply a matter of conjecture. But even if it does, that doesn’t mean we are out of the woods by any means. The Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1919 hit hard in the cold weather months early in 1918, then did subside in the northern hemisphere when warmer weather arrived. But it returned with a vengeance in the fall of 1918, and was actually more lethal thru the fall and winter that led into 1919. So even if this virus does subside with the warmer weather, we should all use that respite as an opportunity to prepare for a possibly worse situation to come. How much danger are we in? That really varies by the person. This is a virus that is striking the elderly and those with diminished immunity issues selectively, but that is to be expected. As we grow older, our immune systems do get weaker, which is why this virus seems to be leaving largely unaffected. But can still be carriers of the virus, so maintaining company with large groups of isn’t an answer to keeping contact with people without becoming infected. The fact that this virus is hitting hardest among people with diminished immunity capabilities indicates that it is kind of wimpy, but it can survive for several hours on certain types of surfaces, so frequent hand washing really is important. It should be noted, however, that healthy young people are not being spared becoming sick. Typically the symptoms are mild, but that can lead to people ignoring them and infecting others. There have also been widespread reports in China of respiratory complications and lung damage from even mild cases. So it is prudent to try to avoid becoming infected, even if you are a young person in good health. There is one bit of good news in this, however. Your or cat are probably safe from infection. There has been one reported case of a testing positive at low levels, but it did not suffer any adverse effects. So Rover and Boots are going to be just fine. How long will this situation last? Again, no one can be certain. As we noted above, the decline of the Spanish Flu epidemic early last century was merely the calm before the storm. Further, some virologists believe that this virus has already evolved into 2 separate strains, which is going to make the development of an effective vaccine more difficult. Just yesterday as I write, there was also a report of the first confirmed case of reinfection of an individual that had already been sick. So at this point, it is probably not wise to act as if this is all going to go away in a couple of weeks. In a situation of this nature, one of the best weapons available is accurate information. On this point, the present leadership of the United States has fumbled in a serious fashion. The current President has proven to be the poster boy for Dunning-Kruger Effect, pretending to information nobody had. In science, “I don’t know” can be an acceptable answer. In other human pursuits like politics and religion, it is dangerously anathema. There is a fine line between trying to calm the public with reassuring information, and misinforming them with dangerously ignorant bullshit. Our government crossed that line early in this situation and continues to do so. There would have been nothing wrong, with many of the questions asked, if the President and his advisers had answered some of those questions by saying, “We really don’t know the answer to that question at this time, but outstanding people are seeking the answers. As soon as we have answers, they will be shared with the public.” That, surely would have been superior to the many instances where the President and various advisers were issuing conflicting information, often within minutes of each other. Under these circumstances, it isn’t surprising that an environment of uncertainty and fear has been fostered. The<b> bottom </font></b>line here is that we are dealing with an unknown. If you tell people about a flu outbreak, people don’t get too concerned. Most of us have had the flu, and miserable as we know it can be, we generally shake it off and move on. But this is different, and alien to our experience. People fear the unknown. But if we all keep our heads, exercise common sense and stop endangering others in a frantic pursuit for toilet paper, we will get through this. I promise. |
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we will all have bigger problems than keeping our asses clean *laughs* So true. Looking out my back window, across the street to the grocery store, the parking lot is relatively empty, compared to chaos I saw there on Thu, Fri and Sat. But I think that's because the word has gotten around that they've run of tp, sanitizer and bottled water.
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I can't say that I have any expertise on how the supply lines for grocery stores work, but my guess is that they tend to receive less freight on Sundays, so most people are probably expecting them to be depleted and are less likely to attempt to stock up on a Sunday. That said, I made a quick trip into a local King Soopers to pick up a couple of things today and the place was packed.
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I would love to be quarantined with a couple of Dom top men
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