COVID-19: How To Help
Photo courtesy of Mick Haupt and Unsplash.com.
Is this the apocalypse?
Of course it isn’t. And please don’t misunderstand me; I’m not making light of this novel situation we find ourselves in. It’s scary. Damn scary. In the movies, people grow tough, they blossom into heroes, and humans catapult to mythical status.
However, the Coronavirus has revealed that in real life, we all get worked up on Facebook, blame the opposite political party, and panic-buy toilet paper.
We’re flooded with information overload. Some say COVID-19 is all bullshit manufactured by mainstream media. They proudly proclaim that they aren’t buying into the hysteria. They say things like, It’s some sort of government secret. China created the virus. This is no different than the flu. They’re making these numbers up. Some even claim that this is a conspiracy to unseat President Trump.
Then you’ve got the other side. The fear-mongers claiming we’re being lied to. President Trump didn’t do enough or did all the wrong things. They may say COVID-19 is killing far more than they’re letting on. Or that it’s not killing as many as they’re letting on. Some even claim the virus has been here for months and that thousands have already had it, but since no one knew about Coronavirus, people just chalked it up to a bad cold or bronchitis. Once again, the government must be lying to us!
Then you’ve got your religious fanatics claiming that this is it - the end of the world. This is where it all starts. Next comes natural disasters, wars, earthquakes, fire and brimstone. Yikes!
And it goes on and on. Some claim it’s a 1% mortality rate. Others claim 3%. It spreads easily. It doesn’t spread easily. Schools closing. Churches closing. Businesses Closing. Stock market crashing, lay-offs, deaths –
My God! Where does it end? How fast is it really spreading? What should I do?
Let me give you some advice…
Calm down and take a breath.
I’m just like everyone else; trying to figure it out. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know how long it’ll last. I don’t know who’ll get the virus and who won’t. But there are a few things I do know and I’ll offer them here. You’re more than welcomed to ignore all of my thoughts as well. You won’t offend me.
I don’t want to fall into the hysteria, but nor do I want to get the virus. I also don’t want to be naïve and act like nothing is happening, thus risking a lack of preparation and social responsibility.
In Marine Corps boot camp our motto was: expect nothing but be ready for anything.
That’s the mentality I’ve chosen to adopt for dealing with COVID-19. I don’t want to contract the virus, but I might. I need to know what to do. I’ll eventually know people who have it. I need to know what to do. There may be shortages of food. Or supplies (case in point, toilet paper). I need to know what to do. Schools and businesses may be closed for a while. I need to know what to do. The economy may get worse, or at the very least, not improve for a while.
I need to know what to do.
Do you know what the single biggest thing is that makes this all so scary? THE UNKNOWN.
People (me included) are terrified of what they don’t know. The unknown is an abyss, a black hole into which, if we fall, we may never climb back out. The unknown has been the most common vessel of fear since the human race sprang into existence.
So, my advice – eliminate the unknown as much as possible. Be informed. If you’re informed, you’ll make better decisions. If you’re informed, you’re empowered. You can avoid the chaos. You can fear the things that should be feared and ignore the hysteria. And, most importantly, above all other things, if you’re informed, you can actually contribute to helping other people and making things better for your fellow humans versus contributing to the problem of ignorance.
How do you become informed?
First off, stop getting your information from links and posts on Facebook (or whatever brand of social media you prefer). It’s all bullshit. Seriously, just shut it off. If you can’t, then at least do a little self-research before blindly believing what people post out there. For instance, if you’re receiving information from someone who constantly blames President Trump, or someone who claims liberals are the impetus behind the COVID-19 situation and that the liberal media is purposefully trying to corrupt us, then I highly recommend blocking whoever that is. You don’t need it. I’m not defending those statements or saying they’re not true, but how does reading posts like that help you? How does it help your neighbor? How is the person who’s posting that crap helping anyone except to spread their own hysteria?
COVID-19 is real and no matter how it got here or who is president, you need to know how to deal with it. If I get this virus, I need to know what to do. God-forbid, my parents get it, I need to know what to do. Hate-filled posts on Facebook don’t help me at all.
Regardless of whether you think this is just some silly scare tactic or if you’re absolutely terrified, it’s real. People are getting sick. People are losing jobs. Entire industries are shutting down. Your fellow humans are suffering not only from the virus, but many are drowning in the wake of its economic devastation.
Be informed.
The below data sources are not the only sources, but they’re updated regularly and are not emotionally invested in the outcome:
This site is the aggregated global infection and death rate (broken out by country). This information is updated daily and available for you to leverage:
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports
This site is the CDC’s information for what to do if you think you might have Coronavirus:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/index.html
Here is an article that focuses on the potential short-term and long-term impacts of COVID-19:
For some money/market discussion items (this post actually is older):
https://www.thestreet.com/jim-cramer/15-years-cramers-mad-money-recap-march-6
A recent post I read comparing COVID-19 to the Flu was informative:
I won’t inundate you with more links, but the ones above will give you a jump on understanding what’s really happening and becoming a more informed citizen. I can’t stress this enough. Educate yourself, question everything, and be informed!
Avoid being the person standing in line at the grocery store with 5 packs of toilet paper in your cart while your fellow humans do without; because for some absurd reason, you believe if you don’t buy all you can get now, then later, you won’t have enough. Hoarding mentality.
Avoid being the person who panic-buys 5 gallons of milk even though you can’t drink that much milk before it goes bad, thus leaving your fellow humans without it.
Avoid being the person who does nothing to help their fellow humans, yet points their finger as if they somehow possess some spiritual or academic superiority. Basically, an excuse to do nothing.
Unfortunately, we’ll always have these people to deal with. There’ll always be people governed by fear. Just please, try not to be one of them. They’re not helping.
Last, there is nothing more comforting in times like this than a voice of hope and reason; those people committed to leading us through uncertainty and providing whatever they can to help us remain calm and bring us together, even if it’s virtually.
I’ve recommended this site before, but it’s worth repeating. Life Design Center founder, Mike Herzog, provides regular posts to help in so many aspects of our lives. His most recent post deals specifically with the issue at hand. You can do far worse than catching Mike’s most recent video:
https://www.lifedesigncenter.com/blog/HealthyIntentions
We’ll get through COVID-19. We’ve gotten through far worse. We don’t know the fallout or how long things will last, so unknowns will always be there. But, like so many things, the more you know, the less scary things get and the better decisions you can make. And ultimately, the better decisions we all make, the better off we all are.
Until next time, folks. Be safe!
