Covid-19, also known as the newest coronaravirus seems to have everyone in a bit of hysteria. It is disconcerting. It's a new virus with (currently) no vaccine and limited means of treatment that has a longer lifespan than influenza and the common cold. From the CDC's website:
Because of the length of time the virus can survive on a surface, the quarantine for a person with the disease is 14 days AFTER the virus is gone. Because of this, the media has suggested people be prepared to be quarantined at home for a month (An estimated two weeks with the illness, then two weeks afterwards for the contagious period to end). So people are stocking up on flu medicines (because of what the media is reporting in the above paragraph), toilet paper, and disinfectants. People are mocking that on Facebook, and saying people are in hysteria. I think there may be some hysteria, but they are also simply following the directions of what the news media are saying people should do.
There's an extreme shortage of facemasks. The CDC is saying it really doesn't help the spread or prevention of the disease any more than not touching your face does, and yet doctors and nurses are supposed to wear them if they treat a patient with it and governments in Asia and the middle east are REQUIRING citizens to wear them. During the outbreak in Wuhan, residents were allowed to go to the market one time a week, and if they were not wearing masks or gloves, they would be fined. Citizens of Taiwan are using water bottles and bras as face masks since there is such a shortage. So there is definitely a lot of contradictory information out there.
There's also be an emphasis by the CDC and media doctors (the doctors who appear on local and national news stations to give the "expert" opinion) on hand washing and sneezing/coughing into a tissue or your sleeve. So of course there has been a rush on kleenexes according to the media, though I've yet to see that in the store. What I have seen is all the Lysol, sanitation wipes, and hand gels depleted. I don't think it's any different than when a snow is predicted. Everyone grabs, milk, cereal, bread and peanut butter because they know their kids will be home from school and the power might go out. People want to be prepared. Is some of it overkill? Absolutely. But would I call it hysteria? Not exactly.
I don't have children. If I did, I would sorely be tempted to overstock on a few things. Can you imagine a family of three or four being quarantined for a month or more? It's just me and Bobby, so I think I could easily order what we needed at the store, pay for it online, and get a neighbor to pick it up and leave it on our doorstep. But not everyone has that luxury.
One thing not being reported is what after effects the virus has, if any. We know that the elderly and sick are the most vulnerable to it, which would also explain why Asian and middle eastern countries have such a high death rate from it - smoking is extremely common in those countries and everyone's lungs are severely compromised.
At this point, the flu and pnumonia are more of a threat to our household than COVID-19 is. While we've both had our flu shots and Bobby has had the first round of his pnumonia vaccine, there's never a guarantee that some inconsiderate person who has it will expose him to it. We choose not to dwell on that nor to live in fear. We can't.
So I'm trying to scroll past all the memes and stories and reports online and even skeptically listen to what I hear on the news. I trust the CDC a little more than I do social and news media, but even they are a government agency that are made up of fallible humans.
At the end of the day, there's really not a whole lot more we can do than wash our hands as often as we an when out in public. Our hope is in the LORD, not hand sanitizer or soap.
"The virus has been named “SARS-CoV-2” and the disease it causes has been named “coronavirus disease 2019” (abbreviated “COVID-19”).Everything I've read about the illness from the CDC or medical sites state it is an upper respitory disease whose symptoms cause fever, cough and shortness of breath. Yet the media gives symptoms for the flu in all of its reports.
Because of the length of time the virus can survive on a surface, the quarantine for a person with the disease is 14 days AFTER the virus is gone. Because of this, the media has suggested people be prepared to be quarantined at home for a month (An estimated two weeks with the illness, then two weeks afterwards for the contagious period to end). So people are stocking up on flu medicines (because of what the media is reporting in the above paragraph), toilet paper, and disinfectants. People are mocking that on Facebook, and saying people are in hysteria. I think there may be some hysteria, but they are also simply following the directions of what the news media are saying people should do.
There's an extreme shortage of facemasks. The CDC is saying it really doesn't help the spread or prevention of the disease any more than not touching your face does, and yet doctors and nurses are supposed to wear them if they treat a patient with it and governments in Asia and the middle east are REQUIRING citizens to wear them. During the outbreak in Wuhan, residents were allowed to go to the market one time a week, and if they were not wearing masks or gloves, they would be fined. Citizens of Taiwan are using water bottles and bras as face masks since there is such a shortage. So there is definitely a lot of contradictory information out there.
There's also be an emphasis by the CDC and media doctors (the doctors who appear on local and national news stations to give the "expert" opinion) on hand washing and sneezing/coughing into a tissue or your sleeve. So of course there has been a rush on kleenexes according to the media, though I've yet to see that in the store. What I have seen is all the Lysol, sanitation wipes, and hand gels depleted. I don't think it's any different than when a snow is predicted. Everyone grabs, milk, cereal, bread and peanut butter because they know their kids will be home from school and the power might go out. People want to be prepared. Is some of it overkill? Absolutely. But would I call it hysteria? Not exactly.
I don't have children. If I did, I would sorely be tempted to overstock on a few things. Can you imagine a family of three or four being quarantined for a month or more? It's just me and Bobby, so I think I could easily order what we needed at the store, pay for it online, and get a neighbor to pick it up and leave it on our doorstep. But not everyone has that luxury.
One thing not being reported is what after effects the virus has, if any. We know that the elderly and sick are the most vulnerable to it, which would also explain why Asian and middle eastern countries have such a high death rate from it - smoking is extremely common in those countries and everyone's lungs are severely compromised.
At this point, the flu and pnumonia are more of a threat to our household than COVID-19 is. While we've both had our flu shots and Bobby has had the first round of his pnumonia vaccine, there's never a guarantee that some inconsiderate person who has it will expose him to it. We choose not to dwell on that nor to live in fear. We can't.
So I'm trying to scroll past all the memes and stories and reports online and even skeptically listen to what I hear on the news. I trust the CDC a little more than I do social and news media, but even they are a government agency that are made up of fallible humans.
At the end of the day, there's really not a whole lot more we can do than wash our hands as often as we an when out in public. Our hope is in the LORD, not hand sanitizer or soap.
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. ~ Psalm 20:7
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