If you haven’t heard about the coronavirus yet, you either live under a rock or do a really good job of avoiding people. Kudos to you for either scenario. For all of us other unlucky souls, we see it on television, it’s one of the first things that comes up in any conversation, and it truly is an important topic right now. It is NOT, however, something that should drive people to clear out whole store aisles, attempt to sell Purell for astronomical amounts, or do any of the other crazy shit people are doing. It’s pretty simple. We’ve been training for this disease since we were children.
Real information
As a society, we don’t suffer from a lack of information. We do suffer from a lack of quality information. The message gets twisted, stretched, and warped until it’s unrecognizable when it gets to us through our social media feeds and news outlets. It’s one of the biggest reasons you should be diversifying your information sources. Here are some real facts about the virus that has now been labeled a pandemic by the World Health Organization.
Coronavirus, now named SARS-CoV-2, which was called COVID-19 (not sure who keeps deciding it needs a better name) causes mild illnesses similar to the common cold. It can and has also led to pneumonia-like symptoms, which can be severe and deadly. It is also considered rare for the latter to happen.
The people most susceptible to severe reactions are the elderly and immunocompromised.
The virus hasn’t proven to be able to spread by asymptomatic carriers. That means if you aren’t actively sick (i.e. coughing, sneezing, and feverish), you are unlikely to spread anything. For me, that means sick people should stay the fuck home and not sick people should stay away from sick people.
The virus can spread from infected surfaces. When someone infected by the virus sneezes or coughs on things, other people can get sick from it…like all the other shit that makes us sick every year. Take precautions by washing your hands and not coughing or sneezing all over the shit when you’re sick.
Large crowds make it easier to spread the disease. This is common sense combined with probability. If people are what spreads the disease and you’re hanging out with a fuck ton of people, your probability of catching anything goes up.
Almost 70% of all cases have been reported in China and South Korea. The total verified cases in the U.S. make up 1% of total cases. What this means is your neighbor out in bum fuck probably doesn’t have coronavirus. Large cities are susceptible and so are any other densely populated areas.
It’s pretty simple, gang
As light-hearted as I like to be about this thing, the reality is we are at a crux. The next steps we decide to take can determine the severity of this virus. We can decide to ignore the real information we have available to us and turn this potentially benign virus into a real problem, or we make intentional moves to stop it in its tracks. Let’s focus on spreading real information instead of the virus. Don’t be an asshole and hang around people if you’re sick. Be aware but don’t incite fear. Be kind to the people around you. And wash your damn hands.
Ric Burnett is a writer based in Portland, Oregon, who focuses on finding purpose and passion in everyday life. He contributes regularly to his personal blog and has been published in "The Ascent", "Better Marketing", and "P.S. I Love You" on Medium. Traveling, learning new cultures, and fully experiencing life drive his creative voice. You can find his current work at www.gofindourhappy.net.
