Not sure what to post about but I guess it’s going to be the Coronavirus

By John, 9 March, 2020

I’ve wanted to post for a while now but all I’m reading about is the Coronavirus. The Coronavirus is a boring subject for me to write about because the facts are simple, yet the outlook is very uncertain and I have little control over the final outcome.

This is everything I know about the Coronavirus:

  • it’s a bat virus that has made its way to humans. So we have no natural immunity to it
  • very transmissible between humans
  • people are contagious for days before they show symptoms
  • this tells me that we’re all going to get it sooner, rather than later
  • some percentage of people will die from an associated respiratory syndrome, COVID-19
  • we (in the United States) do not have nearly enough hospital beds or ventilators to treat the likely victims all at once
  • so our best bet is to self quarantine and reduce social contact so we can prolong how long it takes for the infection to work it’s way through the population, thereby reducing the impact on the medical system over time
  • currently the number of known cases is doubling every three days. If that trend doesn’t stop soon it will be too late to manage this thing.

Amazingly, some folks dispute all of these facts, and they are dismissive of the whole situation. This boggles my brain.

The reason I am most bored, however, is that you, dear reader, already know more about the ending of this story than I do. Should I panic? I’ve done plenty of that. Sit back and relax until this whole thing blows over? I’ve thought of that too.

Happy Hand Washing!