[March 14, 2020] I’m a little late to the party with this post. Several of my readers have pointed out that I have not written a comment on avoiding the Coronavirus. I would not want to disappoint. Besides, government public health officials have been full of advice about how we can minimize the risk of catching the virus. Below is a good example:
Of the tactical methods that help most is to avoid touching our faces. U.S. President Trump earlier in the week said he hasn’t touched his face in weeks. Just thinking about never touching my face again gives me the itch and an overwhelming desire to do a full hand swap on my face. If prevention depends upon not touching our faces, we’re in trouble.
The World Health Organization recommends:
- Washing hands thoroughly with soap and water for 20 to 30 seconds.
- Keep your hands away from your eyes, nose, and mouth.
- Practice respiratory hygiene (stay away from people who are coughing or sneezing).
- Don’t shake hands with people, whether they show symptoms or not.
- Disinfect high-touch surfaces daily using a product that kills viruses.
- If you have a fever, cough, and difficulty breathing, seek medical care early.
- Stay informed and don’t panic.
Don’t you just love the ‘don’t panic’ advice?
I would like to add a few recommendations:
- Bing drinking alcohol like Vodka or Corona Beer doesn’t work.
- Injecting bleach into your veins won’t work, but it will probably kill you.
- Spraying your body with alcohol or chlorine will not kill viruses that enter your body.
- Your dog or cat cannot transmit the virus.
- Garlic, cow shit, magic elixirs, sesame oil, etc. don’t work either
Remember …. Don’t panic!
The WHO knuckled under to Chinese pressure and instead of naming the virus after the locale, Wuhan or the SARS variant that it is, they opted for Covid-19 instead. That IS in fact the official name now.. Not Coronavirus.
Interesting and crazy!
Good article, thanks Gen. Satterfield. I”m just getting around to reading this (been a little busy with family issues). Hope all is well with everyone. ?
Good humor to help get your point across that we should all take REASONABLE precaution. Reasonable, however, is rarely defined and thus subject to a wide variety of interpretations. I only hope we can keep our heads in this matter.
The latest headlines: “Dr. Anthony Fauci At Coronavirus Briefing: ‘We Will See More Suffering And Death’” Overreaction or on target?
If Dr. Anthony Fauci says it, you’d be smart to listen. As the coronavirus has upended daily life across the globe, Fauci has become the trusted voice in separating fact and fiction. Me? I’m relaxing more, been laid off from work. My wife? She’ buying more toilet paper and bottled water (why? I don’t know because all I need is beer).
More updates coming our way. Listen and question. Listen and use common sense that God gave you.
My school finally closed, what a pain in the neck this whole thing is going to be. Personally I believe we have grossly overestimated the effect of this virus. On the other hand, I think great lessons will be learned when the next time a real killer virus strikes us.
Between 160 million and 214 million people in the U.S. could be infected over the course of the epidemic, according to one projection by the CDC. That could last months or even over a year, with infections concentrated in shorter periods, staggered across time in different communities, experts said. As many as 200,000 to 1.7 million people could die.
In 2020 we thought we would have flying cars. But no, here we are teaching people how to wash their hands.
Best humor of the day. And, I love it. Lydia, this is exactly what we need.
Thank you lydia for making my day in the mist of all this craziness.
Here is another and good piece of info to prevent the spread of the virus. Simply cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze or use the inside of your elbow.
Right!
We recognize that these are stressful and uncertain times. Please take care of yourself and loved ones. The Center for Disease control has an excellent webpage with information that talks about the virus, what can be done to prevent the disease and what steps you should take if you get sick. Please visit their webpage at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
This week, US health authorities citing Chinese data said 80 percent of cases have been mild, while the remaining serious cases that required hospitalization affected mainly people over 60 and those with conditions like diabetes, heart disease or lung disease.
More info will cont. to flow from China, Italy, and other high-hit places. What will those lessons be? We need to hear more about them.
Lots of closures of businesses, schools, public gatherings, meetings, etc. Are we going overboard/overreacting? Well, if it does “flatten the infection rate curve” (saving lives) then maybe its worth it. We will be economically poorer for it but maybe we will be better socially. But the latter takes a good amount of old-fashioned leadership.
Mister Rogers said to ‘look for the helpers.’ Here’s how to help amid coronavirus panic.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/03/13/mr-fred-rogers-find-helpers-quote-coronavirus-how-help-neighbors-kindness/5041005002/
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Thanks Linux Man. Lots of advice and suggestions out on the Internet and some of it is bogus or just wrong. How to distinguish between good and bad (or less good) info is what is hard. US Pres Trump did’nt help things out that well in the beginning but now I think he is improving. I think his advisers haven’t advised him that well.
Mr. Rogers what a great man.
It’s always easy to second guess a government’s response to an unexpected crisis like this one, and it’s inevitable that not all of a government’s decisions will be the right ones. That’s true of the U.S. response to the Wuhan coronavirus.
We’re also seeing people going nuts here in the Down Under country. Cheers!
About the only citizens that aren’t going crazy in this whole affair are the North Koreans and Iranians. Interesting how each of those two countries handled the problem. Good to see you back Joe the Aussie. Best of luck. I know the fires in Australia have wrecked havoc. Our prayers are with you and your countrymen.
Good article today, Gen. Satterfield and I, like many here, do appreciate a little injection of humor. The humor may be a little macabre however for the tastes of some of us. ?
Yeah but that is exactly the reason that I keep coming back to Gen Satterfield’s leadership blog. Wendy, good to hear from you on this Saturday when the world is going into full bonkers’ world. Let’s see how this plays out over the next few weeks.
Funny! But also serious. I do believe some of these so-called remedies are actually being tried. I surprised, maybe not really that surprised, that folks will do just about anything when they lose their heads in this panic. Common sense should prevail but I don’t have much hope for that.
“Don’t panic” ….. I keep hearing this advice but I do believe few people are considering this good word.
And many politicians are following the panicked public over the cliff.
So true! And many (mostly young women) are buying up all the toilet paper. Now, what are they going to do with all that toilet paper? I guess it makes them feel better but it means a shortage and normal people like the rest of us have to do without for awhile. Yuck.
Here is something that helps.
‘Coronavirus Symptoms vs. cold and flu’ A video from USAToday that helps but you have to get beyond their stupid advertisements first.
https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus-symptoms-vs-cold-flu-004613585.html
“Don’t panic” is the advice of the day.
Coronavirus: Don’t Panic, Get Informed
https://business.amwell.com/coronavirus-dont-panic-get-informed/