Outside of the general unease I feel towards COVID-19 and the pandemic we’re all facing, I am livid. Livid at everyone who isn’t taking this widespread threat seriously. Livid at comments made by my peers about being “young” and how it therefore doesn’t affect them. Livid that our country isn’t doing more to stop the transmission of this deadly virus.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are now over 1,000,000 cases of the coronavirus worldwide — with over 62,000 of them resulting in death — and the numbers keep getting higher. The longer it takes to get everyone on board with staying at home and taking this thing seriously, the more fatalities that will result. People are dropping dead left and right, and yet what’s most important to a lot of the people, including some of those I know personally, is socializing with friends and family and doing the exact opposite of what’s recommended by health officials everywhere.
The virus tends to hit the elderly hardest, as far as data has shown us, but young adults and children who haven’t even met their 1-year mark aren’t immune. They’re getting sick like everyone else, and the coronavirus does not discriminate; young, old, sick, fit, rich or poor, we’re all at risk of catching it. Some of us have respiratory illnesses like asthma to worry about. And for the record, lots of otherwise healthy adults are still landing in the ICU because of this thing.
Staying at home is tough. I get it. Not all of us are homebodies or introverts. But let’s think a bit about how easily this virus spreads. How it lingers in the air with every cough or sneeze. How we can’t possibly wash are hands enough to prevent cross-contamination. How we may not be showing symptoms, but we very well may be carrying it and can pass it on to our more vulnerable loved ones.
The sooner we work together to combat this nightmare, the sooner we’ll be able to get back to our everyday lives (while, of course, adjusting to a new “normal”).
WeMakesThree 