Said-it Saturday – COVID19 edition

Why do I feel like I need to weigh in on the current crises? Aren’t we being told enough about what’s going on in the world with coronavirus or COVID19?

Possibly. But it seems to me, that there are a great number of people, who fail to understand, what the crisis is actually about.

I’ve heard a lot of people complaining about the how people are freaking out. Because the health department said it wasn’t any worse than a cold or a flu. Or that the flu kills more people pr. year than this is or will.

While that is true, we still don’t know the long term effects. Or really anything about it yet. And that is the biggest issue. And what this crises is mostly about.

This virus doesn’t discriminate. It could hit any of us, really.
It does not care about your race, religion or bank account.

COVID19 may be similar to other viruses or illnesses that we are already familiar with, BUT we don’t know this one. Therefore there are no known vaccines nor does anyone have any natural immunization to this.

That is why this spreads so fast. This is why the governments shut things down and encourage people to maintain social distance, wash your hands*, don’t touch your face and stay home if you are sick.

If you want more information on how to prevent the virus, click this link link to the CDC website. They also have a page on how it can affect your mental health, which includes some great pointers to parents on keeping an eye out for your kids’ reactions and how to handle those.

*Wash hands for a minimum of 20 seconds, or use hand sanitizer with an alcohol content of at least 60%

While I’m greatly concerned about how things are in this country/state/county, I also follow the international news closely. Being from Europe. it is scary watching what’s going on over there from a distance. And on so many levels.
All of my family lives in Denmark. And Denmark is hit really hard. As I’m writing this, they have just closed their borders to people not from Denmark, in an attempt to stop the spread. They went from 56 confirmed cases on Monday of this week to 827 confirmed cases as of this (Saturday) morning. In the big scheme of things, that may not sound like a lot (800+ cases for an entire country….but a country that is only 5.6 million people…) But the rate that this is spreading is fast. They do however not (fingers crossed) have any COVID19 related deaths.
One of the scarier parts, I think, is that I’m able to read the news. And not just get a summary from an American news provider. So I’m closely following what’s happening in Denmark,
And my parents are not young. We were planning on going to Denmark come April, because my dad turns 70. That is not happening. We’re hoping for summer, at this point. Fortunately they are somewhat healthy people, but still part of the higher risk group…

Denmark is not the only country that is bad off in Europe. Italy has a very high rate of confirmed cases, and a fairly high high of confirmed deaths. With more than 16.000 confirmed cases, and more than 1.200 deaths, Italy has put itself on lockdown. and/or national quarantine. People are not allowed to wander around, unless they have a specific, vital purpose, like going to the pharmacy, grocery shopping or seeing the doctor. This is being taken quite seriously and is enforce by authorities in forms of fines and other similar measures.
Denmark is not quite there yet, but my sister thinks that might happen there as well.

Meanwhile, the spirits are still high with the Italians. They are having impromptu dance parties, sing-a-longs and get-together’s from their balconies.

This is how we beat this.
By taking this serious but being kind, caring and respectful of each other…