You may have heard of this new virus, COVID-19? Many have. It’s not as widespread as “the flu” or hemorrhoids, but it’s becoming a popular meme. The Chinese provided the best possible environment for the rapid spread of “Coronavirus,” but they are quite reluctant to take full credit for their successes with this new flu virus. Funny, that, for the progressive and benign inventors of virtually everything, starting with justice for all.
People and governments, businesses and schools and other institutions, have reacted in some ways foolishly. Again, the Chinese were world leaders, although they have started to forcibly push that honor onto the United States, displaying their progressive generosity, to the point of claiming the highest honor of all: being the victims of COVID-19, rather than the originators. How friendly is that?
There are numerous “corona” viruses, 7 at least. Some of them haven’t “sold” as well due, possibly, from their not having been granted cool, mysterious names. Right now, COVID-19 is hot, and everyone seems to want it… or, at least, wants to worry about it. 229E (alpha coronavirus), NL63 (alpha coronavirus), OC43 (beta coronavirus), and HKU1 (beta coronavirus), all gain customers every year but are never celebrated as much as SARS, MERS or the king, COVID-19. I mean, who the Hell would want people to know he or she were suffering from “NL63?” No one, that’s who.
“Coronavirus,” however, or COVID-19, clearly carries a certain élan, some people are so excited about it they are posting their symptoms and difficulties for all to envy and, perhaps, copy, if they’re lucky.
Admittedly, your correspondent, who has never caught SARS, MERS, 229E, NL63, OC43, or HKU1, and not even the 2009 Swine Flu, and whose ability to get within 6 feet of COVID-19 is equally in doubt, still shares your desire for victimhood and all the benefits that go with it. President Trump and Congress have cooperated to pump air into our virus-deflating economy. They call the air, “money,” so-called “billions” of dollars’ worth. It, and many regulatory changes may prove valuable in the limiting of COVID-19’s popularity, so those of you who have gotten hold of some will be even more famous as the weeks and years go by.
Popular and social media, along with other “influencers,” have managed to whip up a pretty good frenzy over “coronavirus.” In response, every business that typically attracts crowds of people to its products, from Wal-Mart to the NBA, major league baseball, the NHL and various marathons and fun-raisers, have cancelled or postponed their events, at great economic loss. Individual star-players have stepped forward to financially support the hundreds of ancillary employees and businesses that function to operate sporting events and to serve their attendees. Real generosity, as compared to the “federal” type. A lot of the lost or displaced economic activity will never be restored or replaced.
Some businesses, naturally, will benefit mightily… paper-goods manufacturers, for example and any store or supermarket that sells them. Bottled-water purveyors and those same stores, again. Company’s that make hand sanitizer, antiseptic surface wipes and face-masks, among other goods, are doing nicely as sheeple attack their supplies to obtain extra quantities of those items that no one and no family, certainly, could bear to do without.
Toilet paper is a big item as the perceived threat of worldwide pestilence rears its empty head. Dozens of rolls. If the supply chain for toilet paper gets severed, people are calculating, their family is not going to suffer the absence of toilet paper until the very last possible minute. This is perfectly logical, possibly even Prudent, although neither quality can be judged on real merits. Faced with a frightening disease, the natural reaction is to stock up on toilet paper. Clearly adherents of this philosophy have not thought things through: if conditions deteriorate to the complete cessation of toilet-paper production, there likely won’t be any food to eat, either, and wiping one’s butt will mean less and less in the grand scheme of things, until we are all smothered by the final, rapid descent of what’s left of the sky, bonking us all on our heads, rendering us senseless. No shit?
Basically, coronavirus, COVID-19, is a new strain of an old friend, causing a variant of the seasonal flu. AS WITH ALL “FLU” VIRUSES, elderly, especially elderly nursing-home residents are at the greatest risk, as are those with other respiratory diseases or weaknesses, smokers and those otherwise immune-compromised. Without strong immune systems, infected victims will find it hard to conquer the virus, and in those, the virus will replicate at its fastest, causing fluid build-up in the lungs and death from pneumonia or, in effect, drowning. No one wishes such an end on anyone.
The “flu,” we have observed, tends to decline in the spring and virtually disappear in the summer. Why would that be so, if it’s so virulent? Why are some people able to fend it off easily in its “high” season, mid to late winter? Why are carefully-tended nursing home residents so susceptible? It’s all dependent upon individuals. It is our habits, our practices, our health and nutrition and our good sense that enables a virus like COVID-19 to succeed or fail.
Why do flu viruses infect more people in the winter? In large part it is because humans tend to have more bronchial and rhinopharyngial inflammations in cold weather. We cough, our sinuses produce more fluids and mucus, we blow our nose, and our bronchial tubes collect mucus and fluids. We work hard to get rid of these intruders and enflame these sensitive linings. Both bacteria and viruses find welcoming environments and it’s off to the races. Over the period of a couple of weeks to a month our bodies fight off the infections and our immune systems are invigorated. Fairly soon there are fewer and fewer people who are contagious and the season passes into spring and summer, and another factor kicks in: sunshine.
Vitamin D is essential in all sorts of organic functions, including strengthening our immune systems. We are likely to be a little healthier in warm weather because we get more sunlight and our skin creates more vitamin D. It’s not just that simple, but it’s not a lot more complicated, either. Nursing-home residents don’t get as much sunshine, for one thing, rarely consume really good meals, don’t get to take supplements, and are kept away from viruses to a great extent, thus rarely exercising their immunities, leaving them more vulnerable than just age alone would make them.
With flu warnings hammering us every “flu season,” we also modify our habits, cover our coughs and sneezes more diligently, stay away from others when we’re feeling ill, take our vitamins more diligently, wash our hands more often, things like that. And, we survive the flu, kind-of like the way we are surviving the new “coronavirus” this year, too. There aren’t many MORE ways to have reacted badly to COVID-19 than the ones we have and are trying, starting with the Chinese in particular. If we had simply described this virus as an especially aggressive flu bug and blasted the airwaves with how to protect ourselves and what to do if our symptoms are one way or another, we’d be acting extra carefully and still going about our daily and business activities. There’d be more absenteeism, but no mania, the cost of which we can hardly estimate.
COVID-19s is a nasty bug. It has a more severe effect on lungs than other coronaviruses, making breathing difficult and stressing hearts. The death rate is higher, too, and, like other coronaviruses, mainly for senior citizens, rates spike with age and certain pre-existing conditions. Number-one is heart disease. Another big one is diabetes, which is its own epidemic in overweight America. If your health is already under attack, please protect yourself. For age groups over 60 the risks are higher. Compared to other well-known flu’s – the ones that come back every winter – the death rates spike higher with this new one for these at-risk, older groups. Use good sense: don’t snuggle with anyone exhibiting ANY flu symptoms.
In the United States, hyper-politicized and divided into sets of enemies, we have allowed the entry of the latest coronavirus to modify our governance and our economic relationships, citizens and federal government, and states and federal government. It’s dangerous.
COVID-19 is a serious disease, mainly because it is more easily transferred than other flu’s. It doesn’t mean we’re all doomed to catch it, nor that every senior citizen is going to die if he or she is infected. The speed of its spread has tripped up health systems, but now that it is better understood, the natural anxiety caused by the rate of infection can be set aside and replaced with best practices to help people recover, AS MOST OF THE INFECTED ARE GOING TO DO. Reactive mania, while politically irresistible, is not particularly helpful beyond the shortest of terms. The concerns about testing rates have more to do with getting the infection statistics right than with specific treatments for those infected. One of the reasons South Korea has relatively low infection and death rates is its widespread testing. That data keeps panic at bay. With cleaner air nationwide, and lower smoking rates than Asian nations, Americans are in some ways healthier and somewhat less at risk.
Americans have learned, on a sudden, how quickly their freedoms may be curtailed by a handful of press conferences and an executive declaration of a “state of emergency.” Families can be disrupted with school closings and by “woke” corporations changing job descriptions without notice. Whole businesses may be shut down by arbitrary event-attendee limitations, mostly by state authorities. It seems unreal, yet the expansion of economic, social and religious displacements is evident with every hourly newscast. It seems imPrudent.
Take your vitamins, extra C, as much as 3,000 IU’s of vitamin D, eat fresh fruits and veggies, and an orange every day. It makes a lot more sense to stock up on oranges, lemons and limes than toilet paper. Don’t smoke… anything. Get plenty of sleep. Don’t frequent venues where people are packed tightly together; stay away from others if you feel sick, have a tough cough or are sneezy. Pray – praying for those who are sick is always recommended. While you’re at it, ask God to protect our hapless United States of America.