I know everyone is probably sick of hearing about the coronavirus, but I had some thoughts I wanted to share.
Yes, it really is that bad
Although most people are accepting that the social measures being mandated are needed to prevent the spread, some still don’t seem to understand how important it is.
We are doing this to protect the most vulnerable people in our society.
COVID-19 is a “novel,” or “new” virus so that means people have no natural immunity to it. There is also no treatment and no vaccine.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) the coronavirus spreads more quickly and is more deadly than a regular flu. The mortality rate for the flu is 0.1 to 0.2 per cent, and the coronavirus is 1.5 per cent in the States, and 4.5 per cent globally.
It’s also particularly insidious because of the period between when you are first infected to when you first feel symptoms is longer (one to four days for influenza, and two to 14 days for COVID-19) which means you can pass it on before you even know you’re sick. And because it’s mild for most people, most people wouldn’t ordinarily stay home.
It’s called a “silent infection” and it’s already spread further than SARS or MERS.
Don’t forget common courtesy
If you feel you must wear rubber gloves to do your shopping, please dispose of them properly.
Although I can understand wanting to remove them before entering your car, presumably in an effort to not bring anything you may have touched home with you, you can’t reasonably just absolve yourself of responsibility.
If you don’t want to touch your car handle or steering wheel with your gloves because of what you may have come into contact with, then why would someone else want to take that presumed risk by cleaning up after you?
While I hope vigilance will mitigate the amount of cases that may eventually be found in Ponoka, let’s not become so paranoid that we forget all consideration for others.
Caution versus paranoia
There is a difference between being cautious and being paranoid.
Should you wash your hands, stay home if you can, and social distance? Absolutely. Should you be bleaching every surface of the your home, washing down everything you buy and making your spouse with no symptoms sleep in a different room?
That may be reaching into the bounds of paranoia.
People are going to some extreme measures to feel safe, but how effective are they?
Wearing masks, or gloves, are only effective if done properly, and may otherwise do more harm than good.
Although it’s ultimately up to each individual person to decide what measures are too far, or what is enough to make them feel safe, let’s try not loose our minds over this.
Prepared versus hoarding
There may be people panic buying and stockpiling unreasonable amounts of certain items, to be sure, but let’s try not to make snap judgements about people.
Nobody knows when they may be required to quarantine. It could come at any time, and they will need 14 days worth of food for their families.
Remember to be kind. That person loading up their cart? It may look like a lot, but they may just have a large family and this is their regular shop.
Let’s just be reasonable about it. There’s nothing wrong with buying a few extra of an item if there’s lots in stock, but don’t clear off the whole shelf or cut in front of a senior to take the last can of beans.
Mandated measures versus expectations
I’m finding there is a distinct difference between the measures being passed down from the government and the actual social expectations we have.
The government has banned all gathering over 15 people, and is advising people to stay at least six feet apart from each other. The social expectation, however, seems to be that everyone stay home indefinitely.
Realistically though, I’m not sure we can depend on staying six feet apart, and just lowering the amount of people we’re around to save us.
The slogan being tossed around is, “just stay home.”
Although this isn’t always possible, as there are still people who need to work, and people still need to buy food and access essential services, it seems to be the best possible advice right now.
Voluntary subscription
This is potentially the greatest economic crisis and the worst pandemic that most people alive today have seen before.
Ponoka News, like all other local businesses, is struggling right now.
Like other businesses we’ve had to close our doors to the public, but our editorial and advertising teams are still hard at work to serve the needs of our readers and customers and we’d sure like to be able to keep doing so.
If you find value in your local newspaper, then please consider purchasing a voluntary subscription to Ponoka News. As little as $35 for an annual voluntary subscription (70 cents a week) will help us to continue to be your trusted source of news. We are all in this together.
And please, be kind to our carriers. A lot of them are kids — they’re just doing their jobs.