Why Coronavirus is a Big Effing Deal
Now that I have had some time to sit with the coronavirus information, I can talk about what’s happening and why it’s important for you to adhere to the guidance, including avoiding crowded places, avoid handling money, doing frequent handwashing, cleaning, and AVOIDING CROWDED PLACES.
All of it matters so pay attention.
What the hell is going on?
The coronavirus is dangerous and right now everybody is a lab rat as doctors and scientists learn how it works. Every case is an opportunity to learn more about it, but the goal is to learn without undue suffering or death. But the reality is, we’re still figuring it out and it’s going to be a minute before anyone can say definitively what’s going on. That means we’re constantly going to get new information about it. This is normal.
What is the actual danger?
The danger varies from person to person depending on their health, access to care, ability to rest, whether they have help, etc.
Everyone can catch this. The more health conditions you have, the harder it will be for your body to fight it. If you were recently sick or have ongoing health issues like asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, kidney disease, or HIV/AIDS are more likely to get very sick and possibly die from the virus. I don’t know about you, but I’m in this group, as are a lot of people you may not know about.
Your best bet is not to catch it. But that’s a challenge for a lot of different reasons.
Avoiding coronavirus
The reason why this disease is so hard to contain is because it is very easy to spread. The virus lives on surfaces for 3–5 days. THREE TO FIVE DAYS. And people can have it for weeks with no symptoms and be contagious. That means you can spread it around for weeks before knowing you have it. And as the virus can live on a doorknob for 3–5 days, that’s a lot of people touching a contaminated doorknob. Or elevator button. Or faucet. Or toilet handle. Or gas pump. They don’t know how temperature affects it — remember this is new and we are learning new stuff daily.
So we have a disease where we can’t tell who has it until they show symptoms which may not appear for weeks but are still contagious, going around and living their lives contaminating everything they touch and we have no idea how to tell. The best way to avoid it is to avoid contact with people, disinfect communal items, clean your fucking house and car, stop touching your goddamn face, and for fuck’s sake WASH YOUR HANDS OFTEN.
It’s a pain in the ass but shit.
The real danger of coronavirus
The real danger of a sneaky, highly contagious disease that can live on surfaces for 3–5 days is that a lot of people are going to get sick. Some are going to get really sick. Some will die. We live in a society that believes it should profit off this. We also live in a society that ties our healthcare to our ability to work. No job means no insurance. No insurance means you can and will be fucked over by our for-profit healthcare system. Sick people can’t afford to stay home so they will have trouble recovering.
People without healthcare won’t be able to seek treatment. Because everything is profit-driven, many medical facilities employ the least number of people they can to keep it operational. As more people get sick, hospitals and clinics will be overrun with patients. Sick people can’t go to work. Businesses will be unable to open because no one is well enough to do the jobs. If we don’t isolate the spread, this is inevitable but so many of us are in positions where if we don’t work, we don’t get paid and bill collectors don’t give a shit about that.
A lot of people will get sick, many will die, and our infrastructure will not-so-slowly collapse. This isn’t even a question of whether it will happen — it’s a question of when.
Is it possible to avoid this worst-case scenario?
Short answer is maybe the WORST case, but the disruption is already on the uptick. Maybe we could have when it first popped up but now? Eh. As things are already disrupted, it will continue to escalate. Self-quarantine will disrupt things until sickness does and when excessive sickness takes hold…it’s going to be unpleasant.
Real talk, people with money and resources won’t be affected as much. It’s the rest of us living near or below the poverty line. It’s the people whose income depends on public appearances. It’s the people whose livelihood depends on tourism. It’s the people on the fringe of the system who will be hit the hardest by this. The marginalized will always feel this the most as public transportation limits services, intentionally created food deserts empty out, and money to maintain homes and medications, and day-to-day living expenses are gone.
There are no social nets to help people who will be financially destroyed by either getting sick or going into quarantine. This will leave people homeless. People who should have been fine will die because they cannot get care. We do not have the resources of the personnel to combat this when the hundreds of people getting sick becomes thousands and then become tens of thousands. Shit is gonna get rough.
And because we are a predatory nation with predatory systems run by predatory people encouraged to exploit this for their own gain, well…shit.
The resource hoarding started immediately and the most violent are the ones who tend to survive this mess.
The intervention that’s needed isn’t hoarding resources — it’s for companies to take the financial hit, pay some fucking taxes, and take care of their people. We need to take care of each other.
But that is not the amerikkkan way.
Live updates
Live Updates on Coronavirus from LiveScience
Things to do to help protect yourself
Avoid public places
Wash your hands
Disinfect your stuff — keys, doorknobs, the interior of your car, your sink
Take off your shoes when entering the house
Take off your outdoor clothes before sitting or lying down
Be careful handling money — wash your hands after
USE SOAP
Avoid touching your face and other moist bits
Wash your clothes with detergent
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Originally published at https://talynnkel.com on March 14, 2020.
