Going Viral

This Corona virus 🦠 , aka the scary name covid19 has taken the global community by storm, or rather enveloped it in an all encompassing fear. When the first news reports began coming out of Wuhan China, the world looked on, rather uninvolved, as another virus seemed to be surfacing in a remote village. People shook their heads in sympathy to the sick and dying and went on with their day.

But as cases began to show up in the United States and throughout the world, not just in a localized Province in an over-populated country, the fear itself began to spread like the virus. All of the images from movies like Outbreak 😷 and books like the Hot Zone, caused people to imagine the worst and begin the what-ifs. What if it comes to my area? What if I get sick and can’t go to work? What if I am quarantined? And on and on, with the media and governments adding the fuel of fear to the fire, confirming the need to be afraid.

So here we are today- mass gatherings cancelled, buildings shut down, workplaces closed, even if you are fine and want to go to work, and annual music festivals that people look forward to all year, like #South by Southwest shuttered. Why not just hang a big sign in all public places and on the internet saying “life is hereby cancelled until further notice.”

The threat of quarantine looming large, stores are selling out of bottled water, hand sanitizer and toilet paper. I don’t get it- toilet paper?Really? Who knew that peoples’ perception of survival was so tied to toilet paper? Covid19 is not even a stomach flu that would warrant being on the toilet and needing toilet paper if stuck sick at home!

And bottled water? Do people think that the faucets in our homes will stop working?

One of the patients in my dental office called and cancelled his appointment 2 months from now because the television said that no one over 60 should go out of their houses. Well I know people have lots of excuses not to go to the dentist, but a 2 month preventative measure for this virus was a new one for me.

Of course when we are made aware of new information that could cause us harm, we need to be cognizant of things that usually aren’t on our radar. But these instances of blind panic are indicative of a disassociation from common sense and our willingness to give away our ability to think and reason.

Of course I feel badly for those who have died from covid19. But I also feel badly for the many thousands of people who die from the seasonal flu EVERY year. Of course I’m interested in how many people have gotten sick from the virus, but I’m more interested in knowing the numbers of those that have gotten better- which is mostly everyone who wasn’t already declining from other medical reasons.

As someone who does not buy into the hysteria, I have learned some valuable things.

1. All of the mandated closures and self-quarantine has left the streets of Seattle and freeways actually ok to drive on. Seattle traffic has returned to what it was like 25 years ago before so many people decided to move here.

2. There is now a name for what we have been doing since cell phones came out and we text and email, rather than talk or meet in person- it’s called “#social distancing”. Up to now, it’s been called “#Social media” and has been hailed as a way to bring people together virtually. Now it’s an excuse to support keeping us physically apart.

3. Fear is an extremely effective way to abruptly change thousands of people’s lives.

4. The fact that we haven’t had a pandemic sooner is a miracle, given how appalled people are at having to constantly wash and disinfect their hands.

I pray that this virus passes quickly and remains a mild flu from which most people will recover. I trust that the media will continue as they always do- report on this virus, while it is still being called deadly, and then when the numbers prove that it is very much like every seasonal flu that blows through, the headlines will disappear. Reliant on our short memories, our fears will be comfortably blanketed.... until next time.

Besides my perceptions, there are also some important take-always. We need to continue to be vigilant hand-washers, because germs are omnipresent. And who knows, if we continue this healthful habit, we may just prevent flus every season and put the flu vaccines out of business?!

We need to look at why we allow our minds to be so easily hijacked by fear. If we are so eager to accept information that is profoundly negative, and change our lives because of it, then we need to look at whether we do the same with positive input.

And finally, now that we know the high value that people place on toilet paper, coupled with the fact that the stock market has tanked and the economic repurcussuons of all of this panic is not yet evident, it is a great time to invest in this frequently overlooked commodity!