I remember standing in a long line to be vaccinated when I was a young child and again for the sugar cube containing the polio vaccine. I think the polio vaccine was put in a sugar cube back a lot of years ago. Then, as an adult, and working in public school, I got flu shots. And then there was Swine Flu, and again, I was vaccinated. Schools were closed with the Swine Flu outbreak, meaning, I didn’t get paid, but I was off work anyway because it had been a bad time for my husband who was in the hospital, and I used the Family Medical Leave Act because of how many days I missed work.
His stay turned out to be doubly frightening because you see, my husband had a compromised immune system due to his disease. We learned they had moved a Swine Flu patient to the same wing and floor as him. Yes, we complained. No, it didn’t matter because they were filling up with patients who had contracted the Swine Flu.
Coronavirus
Now there’s COVID-19. I hoped I’d never see this day and an outbreak that is affecting the entire world. Are you scared? I am though I’m not panicking yet. Ask me again when it reaches my state.
We hear about it on the news daily. By now everyone should recognize the word COVID-19, the name “the World Heath Organization gave to the Coronavirus in February 2020.”
However, there is more we can do like don’t touch our faces, keep office areas and public areas clean and sanitized on a regular basis, which sounds much easier “said than done.” Use a tissue to open and close doors and even to touch your face if you must.
My local news report the other night said people touch their faces around twenty times an hour.
I believe it, I say, while catching myself touching my face while reading over this post.
Take off your shoes when you come inside.
Don’t shake hands.
If you don’t have hand santizer on hand, try buying it now. My grocery store has signs posted that they are limiting sales on hand sanitizer and some cleaning products. I couldn’t find any in a local pharmacy. They were only a couple bottles away from having an empty shelf of antibacterial soap.
Wash your hands.
Wash your hands.
Wash your hands.
With what if we can’t find any? Wash anyway with hand soap. Every part of your hands. Use toweling to turn off water and to open doors. Carry tissues for when there are air-dryers.
The link below shows an infographic with important steps for taking care of ourselves and others around us. Let’s do what we must to remain safe.
From Johns Hopkins Medicine as of March 5, 2020.
COVID-19 SYMPTOMS MAY DEVELOP WITHIN 14 DAYS OF EXPOSURE AND INCLUDE*:
- Cough
- Fever
- Shortness of Breath
THE BEST WAYS TO PROTECT YOURSELF:
See the full Infographic at: Coronavirus at a Glance: Infographic
By Lisa Lockerd Maragakis, M.D., M.P.H.
Visit the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website to stay updated as well as the World Health Organization.
Share Facts About COVID-19 at the CDC.
Harvard health Publishing: Harvard medical School- Coronavirus Resource Center
The good news is, so they tell us, most people who contract the Coronavirus survive. Is it true? The death count keeps rising. The RN at my doctor’s office told me last week that it attacks the lungs. Yeah, the doctor’s office was the last place I wanted to be, but that’s another post. While there, she reminded me to get my pneumonia booster shot since I only received the first one.
As of the last report, it hasn’t reached my state yet, but we all know it’s a matter of time. We had people being tested, mainly those students who had arrived from Italy. Results recently came in. They didn’t have it. One student said he had never been checked for a fever or sickness before getting on or after getting off the plane. Stupid mistakes like that CAN’T happen.
Sorry to stick a pin in your balloon, and of course it’s your choice, but don’t get on a cruise ship.
We have to participate in helping to prevent this disease. And if you’re the praying kind like I am, pray too.
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel 
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