Applying a smidgen of logic to what we have already observed will go a long way towards understanding the ‘real’ Coronavirus. While many ‘experts’ contend doom and gloom are around every corner, I prefer to let common sense take over.
The spread of this virus has been well-documented. While it is a quick-spreading illness, it is not so virulent as many would like you to believe. It took a short time, measured in days, from the first reported case on USA soil to the point we find ourselves today.
The Corona type virus is not new. Sars, Mers, Swine flu and similar types come and go. This particular strain we are now dealing now, along with most others before, can cause death so that it does indeed deserve a measure of respect.
Beyond death, other symptoms include widespread panic, an abundance of fake news, school and business closings, empty supermarket shelves and an unexplainable infatuation with toilet paper.
We know the virus left China around November/December. It hasn’t taken long to get into every state over here in the USA. Last I heard (according to the ABC talking head) we were almost completely red virus-wise from sea to shining sea. So to think the virus which spread around the globe in such a short time would linger for months is contrary to common sense. The quick spread tells us that it is a flash in the pan type of virus which is soon to be over.
We haven’t heard any reports of large-scale numbers of deaths from any of the early places which have hosted the virus. This should tell us what to expect over here in the coming days. Here is a blurb I pulled off of another site.
“Here in the USA, we should expect to see about 60,000 deaths. What that means is that you are unlikely to know one person who will die from the Coronavirus.”
My advice for dealing with this threat is to take extra good care of the elderly and others that might be more susceptible to this new flu. Give them an extra hug today and let them know they are safe. Common sense tells us the smart thing to do during any flu outbreak is to limit our contact with others in order to limit the spread vectors. This makes sense.
Closing schools is not such a bad thing to do during these times, but we need to be able to manage these decisions on a minute’s notice. What do we do with the kids? Can they still learn from home? Who will look after them while we are at work? This has become an important discussion at every schoolhouse in the state this morning.
We should look to the home-school community moving forward.
But, the most important thing we can do is learn from this outbreak. Are we as prepared as we need to be for a pandemic? For some other event that may come along? Should we keep plenty of food, cash, and TP in the house? I’m sure going forward there will be some good discussions relating to events like this. Take advantage of that conversation. Keep calm and use common sense.
by Bob LaFrance
Warner, NH