To be honest, the magnitude the current global situation…came as a somewhat sudden shock to me. This isn’t to say that I wasn’t keeping up on the news, only that it still seemed so far away…and, unlikely to penetrate my immediate world.
Saturday March 14th, it all changed….
Prior to that day, as far as I was concerned, both the problem and answer were simple. Monitor for signs of illness, keep the sick at home, and lock up the elderly and those with health complications. Check in with high-risk loved ones regularly, and offer to help them out in whatever way they needed. In my mind it seemed absurd that closing the nation, in reaction to a handful of sick people, made little if any sense. My concern was aimed at the financial devestation that was sure to follow, in the wake of this overinflated hysteria.
The majority of my family runs a small business
We all work in a gymnastics facility, where the bulk of our revenue comes from services for children and families. Since early reports seemed to indicate that children were not affected by this virus, our decision to proceed with caution – by increasing our already stringent cleaning practices, and become extra viligent to keep sick people away, seemed both reasonable and responsible. We stocked up on Lysol spray and wipes, added additonal hand sanitizer dispensers, and disinfected mats between classes. All employees were mandated to stay home if they were sick, and extra staff was on call to cover as needed. And, much to their chagrin but for their own safety, our matriarch and patriarch, who normally were first to arrive and last to leave – were essentially banished from the facility.
We took every precaution we could think of, given the information available to us. Even offering to intercept children from vehicles, if parents or grandparents were uncomfortable entering the gym. Physical touching was strongly discouraged and hand santizer was abundantly flowing. Addtionally, our staff was instructed to fill in any schedule gaps, with sanitizing the equipment. Given my understanding of the situation, based on the information available, these precautions we were taking – seemed to me, to be out of an abundance of caution.
What, they closed the schools….
I was standing outside the front door, discussing the “hype” when another parent approached to say that all Maryland schools would be closing for 2 weeks. It seemed as though each day, brought with it additional overreactions and media induced hysteria – and, upon hearing this revelation, I couldn’t help but be annoyed with this latest escalation. My thoughts were still wrangling with the societal and economic implications of closing all of the schools – did they not see the future impact of a decision of this magnitude. Were they unaware of the panic this would probably cause….
Hot topic of conversation…
Among the remaining parents in the lobby, mostly parents of team kids, the same message was asked over and over again…are you going to close too! I assurred everyone that we had no intention of closing – at this point, the thought hadn’t even occurred to me. Since the symptoms were plastered all over the news, we were acutely aware of the various methods of tranmission, and lathered ourselves and our kids down with sanitizer at even the slightest chance of possible contamination. We were taking every precaution, so I had absolutely no reason to believe that our being open was anything but a valuable service to our families. And besides, kids weren’t even getting sick…not one, as far as I had heard.
The phone call that changed everything…
It was one, single conversation that had the power to shift my perspective on this entire situation. Mere moments prior, I was still gauging our future plans, largely in accordance with my previously held assumptions on the situation. Attendance numbers were becoming increasingly dismal and my primary concern was aimed at what we could do to assure our customers that they were safe in our facility. Obviously we would never put anyone’s health in jeopardy, but the risk seemed negligible. Even before this pandemic broke out, we were known for the cleanliness of our facility – and now, we were amping up our sanitizing policy even more.
It was just as classes were wrapping up for the day, I was given a message to call my boss – a request that was relayed with a snippet of leaked information that triggered an overwhelming sense of annoyance within me. First off, my boss, just so happens to be my sister – and the message that was spilled, was that she had planned on closing our gym.
Caving in…
My agitation grew, during the short walk to get my phone. I felt as though we were letting down the people who counted on us. In the 10 years since we opened, we have never allowed the decisions of other businesses to alter our own course of action. Throughout years of snow storms and school closings – we had always done our best to remain open and available to serve our customers. Now, all of a sudden…we were giving in to the hysteria, by folding under societal pressure.
I began mentally preparing my side of the argument, with regards to the anticipated discussion we were about to have – concerned solely with my own points and rational. Prior to requesting “Siri” to dial my sister’s phone number, I was convinced that she was brainwashed by the media and overreacting – that her normal rationale had become overtaken by the mass hysteria of society. I prepared a mental shield for myself to block the penetration of any persuasive arguement she threw my way, intent on being unswayed by whatever she had to say – my mind was made up, and this time, I refused to back down. At least one of us needed to remain calm and sane – and advocate for our staff and remaining customers.
Hey…
She answered the phone, as she always did – casual, and as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Although I didn’t mention it, I knew why she wanted me to call – I was simply waiting for her to bring it up, so I could unleash my carefully scripted rebuttal. Then she said the words I had been waiting for “I think we are going to have to close the gym”. I replied in staunch defense of staying open, and remained skeptical of her logic for wanting to close, even when she mentioned that she had been researching this for the better part of 3 days. In fact, the time she spent investigating, only cemented my belief that she had been swayed by the frenzied media.
During the first few minutes, I stuck to my guns, righteous in defense of my position. So much so, that I barely even absorbed what she was saying – that was, until she hit upon one word that would instantly nullify the validity of every single argument I had thoughtfully prepared. In fact, the potential ramifications of this word, had the capability to turn my entire argument on its ear, and dramatically change everything…
That word was Asymptomatic
Meaning, people can be infected and spread the *oronavirus, without exibiting any symptoms. People who appear to be fine, and even feel fine – but who are infected with this virus. Because they have no reason to believe they are not healthy, they simply go about their day – possibly infecting everyone and everything they touch. In addition to asymptomatic virus carriers, pre-symptomatic transmission is also responsible for spreading this virus – in lieu of any visible indications of illness.
Long story short, the list of *oronavirus symptoms, indicators we have been trained to recognize and alert us to the possiblility of infection…may not even be present in all situations. Now, I am in no way a fearful person, in fact, I am probably the opposite. I have a strong faith that everything will be fine, and I still believe this – but the potential implications this has on the outcome of this situation, are mind blowing.
I suddenly realized that in light of this recent discovery, our current protocol may not be providing the safety to our customers, that we had previously believed. In essence, all the additional cleaning and other precautions we mandated to ensure the wellness of everyone – are not necessarily going to prevent the spread of infection. In light of this new understanding, it is necessary that we do even more to protect our family, friends, and community.
And another thing…
I continued to argue other points I had prepared, because, why not! On the day of this conversation, we had only a handful of infections in our entire state. Of the 6 million people in Maryland, there were barely a dozen positive test results – these were hardly statistics that would envoke any far reaching threat. It was still difficult for me to grapple with the financial toll this would take – not just on our business and community, but the entire nation. Next, she stated a fact that left me speechless – she said “yes, a handful of confirmed cases, but they arent even testing.”.
Wait, what…
What do you mean they arent testing? She said there aren’t enough tests available, so testing is reserved only for people who meet certain criteria. “What criteria”, I asked. She answered “people who had travelled to certain parts of the country, other countries, or were recently in contact with someone who was known to have tested positive”. Confused, I followed up with “But wouldn’t people be able to spread it to people without realizing it?”, she said “yup, but they won’t be tested…there aren’t enough tests”. This was the moment it occurred to me – there is a very high probability that the numbers we see on the news, are vastly different from the actual number of people who are infected with the coronavirus, and many without exibiting symptoms. And despite not being able to confirm the positive results, it’s safe to say that that number of cases is growing exponentially.
Taking into account the documented numbers, I can’t say that I really blame people for their blase attitude. On the surface, it does seem to be blown out of proportion – that is, until you really dig into it. However, timeline charts documenting the progress of the virus by country, paint a very real picture of this situation. The countries where early quarentines were mandated, faired much better than ones who waited longer to enforce preventative measures. Time is of the essence, and we all need to take action and be responsible – even if it isnt yet mandated by the government.
Can we stop it, maybe…maybe not
But we can minimize the impact if we are able to “flatten the curve”, a phrase that has become synonymous with *oronavirus reports. If you are not familiar, flattening the curve means slowing the infection spread rate, or better yet reducing it altogether, in an effort to prevent our healthcare system from becoming inundated with a flood of additional patients. A slow down would buy our medical system some much needed time, to better prepare for the impact of this situation, with additional tests and/or respiratory equipment. It could save hundreds, if not thousands of lives. Although it is unfortunate, right now, in the US our healthcare system is woefully unprepared to deal with the potential of a sizable influx of respiratory patients – we simply dont have the infastructure to handle it.
Not a false alarm…
If you don’t believe me, I urge you to do your own research. I understand the natural tendency toward mistrust of the information deseminated by media outlets. I seriously doubt any of us are strangers to media manipulations, where viewership is generally won by the most sensational stories – at any cost. In fact, our current culture is so plagued by over the top “news”, it seems as if the public are simply pawns in the ensuing tug of war. With various perceptions, all touted as “truth”, most of us have learned to simply ignore the bulk of what we come across – rather than sort through the BS. At least, this was my excuse, until very recently. However, as a collective, we can’t afford to ignore this, we must all do our part to minimize the damage quickly…so we can all get back to life, and recover from this global situation, as quickly as possible.
Expanded scope…
Initially my interest in this virus, was primarily aimed toward protecting my immediate environment – My family, our employees, business, and customers. But now, I have come to understand the actual scope of this, is much broader. Perhaps this is a wake up call for all of us, to slow down and see ourselves, beyond our individual needs. Maybe this forced isolation, is an opportunity for each of us to reach out and step up, by offering assistance or even just compassion, to someone who is vulnerable. Especially during a crisis of this magnitude, there are many who are suffering far more than the mere inconvenience or boredom experienced by the majority of us.
Many independant elderly, in particular, are terrified of catching this virus and have no idea where to turn. At this point, most stores shelves are stripped bare of everyday supplies, and because of thier advanced age, they may not even understand online shopping or other alternatives. Some may be on fixed incomes and unable to afford simple staple items or medications. Meanwhile, able bodied people can be found hoarding months worth of supplies – either to stockpile or take advantage of the situation by reselling highly sought items to desperate people for an easy profit.
Change of plans…
Despite the grim reality of this situation, there is also empowerment. Education is key, and there is alot we can do to ensure, not only our personal safety – but also protect our loved ones and high-risk population.
In the US, we are fortunate to trail behind other nations who have already experienced this potential global pandemic, and we have been granted first hand knowledge of their mistakes and missteps – and the price, in human lives, those errors cost them. There are dozens of charts documenting the trajectory of this virus, according to the countries affected before it officially arrived in the US, including the time we potentially have to act upon it. Check it out for yourself, the information is only as far as a “google” search.
Halt the spread of misinformation
As of now, there is no cure – and spreading rumors to the contrary, can only incite irresponsible behavior. However, what we can do for eachother is educate. Be generous and compassionate in relaying knowledge, now is not the time to criticize and judge. We can all do our part by sharing the information we understand, with our loved ones, to ensure that we are all doing our part to raise awareness on this.
If every single one of us heeds the recommendations of the CDC – in addition to remaining calm and helping eachother out while we all weather the storm, this could be largely over in a matter of a few weeks. Or, we can choose to deny the advice of experts and go about our lives – attend large gatherings, hoard supplies, and devalue the lives of the “at risk” population, because it really doesn’t affect us – besides, it only critically affects roughly 3.5% of people anyway.
Let’s pretend for a second that these 3.5% of our disposable population, aren’t our Mothers, Fathers, and Grandparents. But also included are others people, who aren’t aged, but who are already enduring the struggles of medical challenges. Are the lives of these people, not worth the effort of a couple extra precautions?
And if this isn’t convincing enough for you to alter your personal routine, imagine someone in your family has a personal emergency, unrelated to this virus – yet, the hospital staff is unavailable to attend to you, your kids, or someone you love…because all beds are being occupied by patients. Medical personnel could easily become overburdened, overtired, and possibly make more frequent errors. Even if you believe this doesn’t directly effect you – I promise you, it affects all of us.
The choice is ours, we can either learn from the fate of others and collectively decide on an alternate path, or follow the others down the path that awaits us…if we do nothing.
The reality is…
Diligent handwashing and sanitizers are only partially effective, we now know we need to do more. In addition to the amped up sanitation protocol most of us have already adopted, the CDC has recommended an additional measure to halt, or at least slow down, the spread of coronavirus – that is, Social Distancing.
Now that we know people can be infected and transmit this virus, despite symptoms being present – to be extra cautious, we need to be maintaining a distance of 6 ft between ourselves and other people, at all times. This is considered by the CDC as a safe distance , which will help to ensure that any bodily fluids aspirated by an infected person will have additonal time to dissipate over a more clustered group setting. Naturally, this is not a guarantee of illness prevention, as particles can remain airborne. However, in coordination with a thorough sanitization protocol, this measure can dramatically reduce the chances of becoming contaminated.
Consider being considerate
This is not a problem of limited supply, there is enough for everyone – as long as none of us is stocking up in preparation for the end of the world. If it is more than your family would need for a month maximum, than consider leaving the surplus – enabling someone else to also provide for thier family for the month. Obviously prepare, but avoid panic shopping, nd hoarding supplies. Retail outlets are working around the clock to stock staples, but will be unable to keep up with the public, if we are all buying up mass quantities of items we all need. In other words, skip the toilet paper, clorox wipes, and hand santitizer bunker…and leave some for others.
Our attitude and actions are key during this time.
It is likely that we will all witness the best and worst – of human behavior. How many times have we all complained of “not having time”, well now you do – and, best of all…its 100% guilt-free! Just say you are doing your part to minimize the spread, and stay home if you can.
Take this opportunity of down time, to do the things you have been neglecting or wanting to do.
- Movie or Game nights with the fam (force your kids to watch 80’s teen movies)
- ‘Puzzles
- Clean out closets or cabinets
- Creative projects: paint, draw, knit, whatever you want
- Read
- Prepare a nice meal
- Take a long bath
- Call a friend and catch up
- Take down the christmas tree or lights (not judging)
- Catch up on laundry
- Take a day nap
- Set up your computer to assist scientists to find solutions to this virus (for more information: foldingathome.org)
- Reach out to at risk neighbors and offer to help them order groceries online or deliver personally if preferred
We will get through this – and if we are lucky, we will come out the other side…even more grateful, loving, and compassionate than we were before. Be safe.
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