Are You Prepared

A novel form of coronavirus originating in China late last year has spread globally. There is no vaccine for this particular type of corona, named COVID-19. I won’t list the morbidity and mortality statistics here because they are changing by the hour and news coverage is widespread and nearly constant. It is important that we listen to and read reputable news sources. Social media and even some government representatives can be misleading. We need scientific statistics, not hunches.

I have known for some time that there are a few things that should be on hand at home if we are to be prepared, but I have not followed through. Today I plan to at least be sure I have some extra food and over-the-counter remedies available in addition to the gloves, masks, and disinfectants that I already have in stock.

Prepare For What?

• Isolation – staying at home to protect yourself from others
• Infection – staying at home to protect others from yourself

Prepare How?

There is no dearth of good information available regarding what to do to protect ourselves from this virus. It includes masks, gloves, hand sanitizers, and new greetings to take the place of handshakes. I’m not going to outline them here.

We know that should we become ill with flu-like symptoms we should isolate ourselves from others and treat the symptoms. If developing a fever or in the case of more serious symptoms we should go to a healthcare facility where they may or may not have test kits for COVID-19. Regardless, the more serious symptoms and complications can be treated by health care professionals when the virus is too serious for self-treatment.

Older individuals and those weakened by other diseases are most susceptible to more serious complications. Some thought should be given to who would care for such individuals in your family should they contract COVID-19.

At this point, we do not know how much worse this situation will become, but we have all the information necessary to plan and make the most of what could be a horrific pandemic. Test kits are lacking, there will not be a vaccine for 12-18 months, but we have information that is crucial even if it sounds too simple, like “do not touch your face.”

Are You Prepared?

Picture by Pixabay

“Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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Viruses

The coronavirus is all over the news today. It is important and it is wreaking havoc in China, but I wonder why it is of more interest in this country than plain old flu. Many people refuse to be vaccinated against the flu for various personal reasons. I think seasonal flu needs more respect in view of these statistics:

Roughly 200,000 people are hospitalized with the flu each year in the United States, and about 35,000 people die.