Rather, it was time a couple weeks ago; but, now is helpful too.
Having never experienced anything like a pandemic, I have been, until now, unsure of how to proceed, re: sharing my thoughts on the matter. At the outset, I should like to note that I am not a doctor, nor am I qualified to be making decrees to guide the actions of the public; these are but my relatively informed, layperson recommendations. For actual guidance, please refer to your local authorities on the matter, and please do as they advise.
That said, from what I can surmise, presently, I would strongly suggest to all who can afford it --for the time being-- to isolate yourselves from others, and to limit (or outright avoid) attending confined spaces where people are breathing the same air.
For, it's either that you are of advantaged age, and/or have conditions which make you vulnerable to the virus, or, you aren't overly-vulnerable to the virus, but you share grocery stores, workplaces, friends, friends of friends, of parents, grandparents, people who are immunocompromised, those with heart problems, diabetes, et al, and the fact of the matter is that the healthy must act to protect the weak from exposure.
This is a problem of the commons, it affects us all. Individually-vulnerable or not, our collective well-being is in jeopardy, and we must take this seriously.
Yes, the numbers seem low, now, but we need to understand that these are just the people who have tested positive for the virus. Have you been tested? I haven't. I don't believe I know a single person who has been tested.
It seems that the infected can shed the virus without even being conscious of their being sick; by their mere exhalations they can send infected droplets into the air, only then to be inhaled by others, unaware.
Further, the virus appears to have an incubation period (ie: works within us without our knowing / manifesting symptoms) of something like fourteen days. Furthermore, I've also read that children can have it without showing symptoms. While it may not be a significant threat to the children, this can represent a threat to others, to parents, to their friends, to those in the community with whom they interact, and, of course, to the vulnerable grandparents who enjoy caring for their kin.
The virus is out there, among us, and it's out there in a big way. I won't guess how many sick people there are, but I imagine the number would be very big, shockingly large.
Over the next ten to thirty days, assuming the virus continues to act as it has elsewhere in the world, it seems that these large numbers of undiagnosed and unaware virus-shedders will manifest in more and more people heading to the hospitals.
This manifestation will likely cause the filling of our hospitals, the stressing of our systems, stretching the efficacy and physical limits of the noble, useful, beautiful humans who do the work to keep us alive when we are at our weakest.
This isn't a worry that we're all going to die. No, it's not like that. Unless it mutates in a way that we don't expect (more deadly, rather than less deadly and more virulent), then the problem is twofold: one, that we don't know who has it, and two, we don't have the ventilators, nor the capacity, nor the ability to give critical care to every vulnerable person who needs it, not all at once.
The effort is to 'flatten the curve', as it were. By healthy-feeling people isolating themselves as a precaution, over the next few weeks we can limit unknown transmission while the virus flares up in our communities.
Even if we all end up getting sick, so long as we don't all get sick at the same time, then we can make this so much more manageable on the systems, resources, and the heroes, the world's dedicated health professionals, those helpful humans working through conditions and stress that I cannot pretend to earnestly fathom, nor feign to possess such a depth of fortitude and usefulness.
So, if you can, get your Netflix going, crack open YouTube, read your books, write more, write a book, play video games, paint, learn a new skill, go for a walk away from others —do anything but mingle with humans outside of your household for the next little bit. Let's be mindful of the situation, and act accordingly.
Also, it goes without saying that if you are sick, STAY AT HOME, DON’T GO OUT, PLEASE! Contact your local authorities, and follow their advice. Please, we must all act to keep the fallout of this epidemic to a minimum. Concert tickets? Toss them. Birthday party? Reschedule it. Ability to work from home? DO IT!
A special thanks to the people working to keep the lights on, the internet flowing, food on the shelves, to everyone who is just trying their best in these trying times!
I love you all, so much, and I hope we can learn a lot from this experience, and that we can find each other safe on the other side of it all —still washing our hands, still preparing for the next pandemic, the next challenge facing the commons, but also getting close, again, sharing spaces, enjoying life, pursuing our careers and romantic interests, connecting with the world and one another, as we once did; flourishing, as humans are wont to do.
Don’t panic, keep yourself informed, hydrated, get the sleep that you need, and for goodness’ sake, quit touching your face.
- James,
p.s. Here are some resources (I’ll update this, as I find more good and useful links):
A worthwhile piece on the subject,
https://reviewcanada.ca/magazine/2020/03/pandemic/
Harvard Health Resource Center
https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/coronavirus-resource-center
Covid-19 subreddit for discussions, news (sometimes unhelpful speculation, too),
https://www.reddit.com/r/Coronavirus/
WHO,
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
Sam Harris podcast,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwE0ldRtwGA&
A good Joe Rogan podcast,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3URhJx0NS