You can’t look at a newspaper, turn on the TV news, or scan the internet and social media and NOT see it.

COVID-19!  The corona virus!  It’s coming for you!  Be afraid – BE VERY AFRAID!

Look, I understand the necessity and common sense of trying to contain a virus that currently has no vaccine or cure and has the potential to end lives, but let’s take a look at this from a rational perspective.  There’s a lot of disinformation out there, and some people actually believe that it’s possible to get this “new” virus from doing things such as eating Chinese food (the virus originated in China) or drinking Corona beer (I wish I was making those up, but unfortunately, I’m not).  Also, the media tends to use such frightening language as “pandemic” (which simply means a disease that has spread across multiple continents), “outbreak”, and other inflammatory language in order to gain the public’s attention.

WHAT IS COVID-19?

Scientifically speaking, COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus 2[1].  Symptoms include fever, dry cough, fatigue, and shortness of breath.  A sore throat, runny nose, or sneezing is also possible, but less common.  The virus can develop into pneumonia and other complications, which could result in death.

HOW IS IT SPREAD?

The infection is spread via person-to-person contact, primarily through microscopic respiratory droplets transmitted through the air when people cough or sneeze.  Time from exposure to symptoms is anywhere from two to fourteen days (with the average being five days).

HOW DEADLY IS COVID-19?

The current mortality rate (i.e. rate at which people die) for COVID-19 is currently anywhere from 1-3%, which means that for every one hundred people that come down with the virus, anywhere from one to three will die from it.  Most of these deaths are concentrated in the elderly population (anyone over age 70).  As a comparison, the mortality rate for the flu is generally less than 1% across all strains – and we have vaccines available (i.e. the flu shot) which many people don’t bother to get every year[2].  While the deaths make headlines, many, many people around the world who have been infected with the COVID-19 virus are fully recovered (or may have even had the virus with such mild symptoms that they didn’t even realize it).

WHAT CAN I DO TO PREVENT THE SPREAD?

The most common preventative measures are simple ones, really.  Wash your hands with soap and water – often and for a period of twenty seconds or more.  Don’t paw at your face, nose and mouth if you’ve been out and about.   Stay away from people who are sick.  If you are sick, wear a mask (you don’t need one if you’re not sick), call your doctor, and stay home.  It’s not that hard.

So, do you really need to be rushing to the grocery store and hoarding canned goods, milk, bread, and toilet paper?

No.

Will we see more cases across the country and perhaps even locally? 

Probably, if the World Health Organization (WHO) and Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) prognosis is accurate.

Bottom line, it’s good to be informed, but don’t let fear and the crazy reactions from others rule your daily life.  It looks as if COVID-19 is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.

Better get used to it.

---

[1] Wikipedia contributors, “Coronavirus disease 2019,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Coronavirus_disease_2019&oldid=944046348 (accessed March 5, 2020).

[2] Wikipedia contributors, “Influenza,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Influenza&oldid=944016390 (accessed March 5, 2020).