Coronavirus Update

This morning the Governor of New York spoke to the citizens of his state. It's long, but I thought it was worth posting for anyone to listen to.

Life is a series of choices. How we make those choices matters, to us and to others. I know many of you have probably noticed the missing items in your grocery store, like toilet paper or bottled water. Hoarding is a horrible byproduct of this crisis. Filling your basement with a truckload of toilet paper at the expense of others is not a good choice.

But we are not all like that. Tough times can also bring out the best in many people and businesses. We have those who are converting their Little Free Libraries to Little Free Pantries, stocking them with food for whoever needs it. We have restaurants in downtown Minneapolis that are donating food they can't use to anyone who can. We have the volunteers who are reaching out via the internet to senior citizens who are shut in. We have people working on making their own ventilators, not waiting for supplies from outside. And we have some very intelligent scientists from various nations and states working on drugs that may help.

This restaurant in St. Paul is providing free meals and hope to those who are now unemployed.

This crisis will pass. We will survive. 

How do you want to remember your behavior during it?

Virus

A couple posts ago I wrote about three events that I believed in some way shape or form were going to be important, not just in the present, but in the future. I also felt that they were going to be connected in a way that will impact all of us.

As you are all aware the coronavirus, or Covid-19, has now spread over much of the planet, touching many countries and the people who live there. For most who are infected it will be a mild version, but for some it will mean hospitalization and, sadly, death. Whether you want to call it a pandemic or not it is a very serious happening that will take a serious effort to control.

We have seen how the Chinese government responded to the outbreak of Covid-19 in their country, the mass quarantine of millions of people. An extreme measure that we might have thought would be out of the question for those in the West to emulate. However, just overnight Italy has imposed a partial quarantine of their own.

Obviously, we don't want to overreact, but as is demonstrated by the Italian government official, as well as the Pope himself, it is up to those of us who have limited health risks to try to protect others who will be more seriously affected by Covid-19.  Because we could be carriers.

Contrast these responses to the response of Donald Trump, the current President of the United States.

Trump's response

Just in case that link disappears, it was pertaining to Trump's response to a reporter's question about a person who attended a CPAC rally for Trump who tested positive for coronavirus.  While I may disagree with the people who attend those rallies, unlike Donald Trump I certainly would not encourage them to expose themselves to an illness like Covid-19.

An overview of what is happening and what we can do ourselves to fight the coronavirus.

And, lastly, a prediction of what could be. I stress could, because perhaps if we all work together we can mitigate some of the seriousness of this outbreak.

Take care all and be sure to wash your hands!