I don’t think any of us has ever lived anything like what we’re living with the Coronavirus (COVID19). That said, there are people who think this is overblown, those who think this is the end of the world, and amazingly some people who think this is some sort of conspiracy . It’s interesting to me, because people seem to think they have an opinion over whether a pandemic is justified or not and this is an intense reminder that although we all can have an opinion, in the bigger scheme, it doesn't really matter.
There are actually several interesting things to ponder so join me on the mandatory Coronavirus blog post most of us will do as we cope with quarantines, lockdowns, and the new normal:
1. The reaction to the word pandemic.
The definition of the word pandemic is as follows: [Adjective] (of a disease) prevalent throughout an entire country, continent, or the whole world; epidemic over a large area. People hear pandemic and have thoughts of the movie Outbreak and end of the world scenarios, and this is just for starters. What makes COVID19 different from SARS, the swine flu, AH1N1, and other widespread diseases we’ve seen in the past is its level of contagiousness. Studies vary in results, but the fact is that it can be airborne, it can survive on different types of surfaces for hours, it can be asymptomatic (not presenting symptoms) for several days while still spreading, and it shares some symptoms with the flu, though not all of them. The problem is that medications used to treat the flu or other respiratory diseases can actually be harmful to patients with COVID19. In addition, this disease also mutates as it continues to spread, making the development of a cure-all impossible. Simply put, it’s a highly contagious disease and developing a cure isn’t as easy as isolating one strain.
2. Comparisons to past diseases and questioning why other diseases don’t get the same level of attention.
Having worked in healthcare for 7 years, I was able to work during the AH1N1 crisis and although the media coverage is not to the level of COVID19, there was still plenty of coverage and panic related to it. Moreover, every year, millions of dollars are spent to create awareness about the flu and its threat. A lot of people say that flu coverage is non-existent in comparison, yet I’ve worked on communication pieces and efforts that speak to the contrary. Every year thousands of people die to complications related to the flu. In this case, it’s the same, except that it is at a highly accelerated rate and happening when some countries should be exiting flu season and when countries in the southern hemisphere are entering into theirs. People remember SARS, the swine flu, AH1N1, Zika, and Chikungunya and the memory is there that those situations weren’t as cataclysmic as predicted. To me it feels like the boy who cried wolf, people don’t believe him, and we have a pretty bad wolf in the flock. People also want to get on a soap box to talk about all the people that die because of AIDS, cancer, and other diseases… I don’t get the argument, but that’s me. I see all diseases as something we should be working on controlling, curing, or preventing. This isn’t a pandemic popularity contest. In all honesty, I think we've gotten used to flu communication being told to us for so long that it doesn't seem as frequent as it actually is.
3. The “toughness” of people.
I’ve seen a LOT of people throw caution to the wind and continue living as if nothing is happening, going to social gatherings, taking little to no precautions, and all because they can ride it out. Although we could congratulate their immune systems and bravado, the fact remains that this isn’t about any single person weathering a virus. It’s clear that a lot of people are healthy and can cope with an illness of this nature. But this isn’t about those people and their resilience, it’s about limiting the spread of the disease thinking of others who are much more vulnerable. Think the elderly, people with chronic conditions, people with an autoimmune disorder, and people who are at high risk of complications from this illness. People often think death is due to one single thing when in reality it’s one complication leading to another, then another, then another. From what is being shown by studies, reports, and what we’re seeing in general, this is a highly transmittable disease yet people will survive it. It’s not that if you get COVID19, it’s an automatic death ticket. But again, it’s a highly transmittable disease and another aspect is that it seems to affect the lower part of the lung, which can easily turn to pneumonia. So again, this leads to complications.
4. Carpe diem attitudes (i.e. egocentric attitudes).
With all the warnings being emitted, some people still see this as prime time to do the world tour they’ve always dreamed of at a bargain. Many people respond by saying “you only live once”. This may be true but you only die once and you can spread the disease plenty more than one time if you’re infected. Too many people forget that this isn’t about them, it’s about us. The world definition of us. The NBA has shut down, Disney Land and Disney World have closed, the NCAA will play without crowds, South by Southwest has been canceled, concerts are being canceled… that’s a LOT of money being lost and that seems a better indicator of how bad the situation is than anything else. If companies are THAT willing to lose money in a time where profit is king, then that means this isn’t a normal situation and maybe, just maybe it’s a good idea to stay home.
5. Varying degrees of responses from countries, states, and regions. (UPDATED)
6. Mass shopping
People have gone on shopping frenzies and although I was meaning to get something on Friday, seeing how the parking lot was, I decided otherwise. If it was nuts there, I don’t want to imagine what it was like inside the supermarket. People have bought a lot of perishable products and others have bought more sustainable options. Then there’s the toilet paper frenzy… I dunno, I’m seeing a lot of crazy things and me and my wife bought what we need in case this is more than a couple of days (which it seems it will be). Also, to all the people who have bought thermometers, hand sanitizer, surgical masks, and other essentials to profit… I’m happy eBay and Amazon cracked down on you, though beyond that lesson, I do hope the authorities take action against these people and ANY business who inflated their prices to make the most of this crisis.
7. A lesson in us not I
The title of this post talks about the I in virus… and each of us has a role to play in this scenario. Though most times individual participation is negligible, this isn’t one of those cases. Every person working towards the greater good will help and everyone being egocentric will work against it. That’s my opinion and you can take it or leave it, because in the end, our opinions will not matter in regards to this situation. The only thing that will matter is our behavior and what we do in favor or against efforts to control COVID19. As with most things in life, this too shall pass, but we can help it pass better and more efficiently… because this isn’t about I but us. The main threats we face are the overtaxing of health services in every single place.
8. More than ever, we should support our health professionals
I know I should have led the blog post with this, but I wanted to reflect people’s attitudes instead. People are angry their concert got canceled. People say they are tough enough to beat this disease. But as per usual, our health professionals and the considerations to them comes last as do the considerations to our populations who are at a higher risk. Treating people takes money and supplies. It also takes people. We have a shortage of hospital personnel, medications, and equipment. This is not an overblown statement, especially for rural areas, or territories like Puerto Rico who have seen an exodus of medical professionals the last several years. Almost 200 medications required for people on maintenance treatment are produced in China and China is shut down. There is a shortage of ventilators and respirators that will be needed for more severe cases. If these statements sound kind of dire, that’s because they are. Yet we can make a difference. Each of us can make a difference and rather than ramble on, I’d like to share a quote my wife shared recently.
"And so — and I say this as much to myself as to all of you — we can change our behavior to lessen the risk we pose to other people. Limit your travel; work from home if you can. Making sure you don’t pass the virus on to someone who might be more severely impacted by it is the most important way you can help. But we can also channel some of our anxious energy away from reading articles on the internet and toward thinking about who in our lives and in our communities will certainly need help or assistance."
Peace, love, health, and unity… we can enjoy the maki rolls later
