It’s time for progress (on hygiene).

[Note: Because some idiot discovered you actually should put new posts in the “posts” section, this was originally published on March 10] The new coronavirus, COVID-19, is here. It is the end times — this disease will consume the Earth in a fiery pestilence that will rollover all modern medical advancements. How could we stop it? Could it be the implementation of scientific public health protocol, the proliferation of factual information about this coronavirus or the resurrection of beaked masks that save us? No. The ultimate savior will be basic hygiene. 

To get the most basic and useless complaint of mine out of the way, it is called COVID-19. It’s a type of coronavirus. They are called that because the virion has the appearance of little spikes all over the surface. Other coronaviruses include severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS, a notable outbreak of which occured in 2003) and middle east respiratory syndrome. 

Anyways, the World Health Organization currently says a little over 93,000 people around the world have COVID-19.  They also show that about 86% of all of those cases are in China and about 7% of the 2,984 deaths have been outside of China. I could also mention the fact that a little over 3% of all people infected have died, but I think by now it’s pretty easy to understand that COVID-19 isn’t a calamity that will bring public revelry/piety/self-whipping back into fashion. That’s not to reduce the severity of the situation either — WHO’s director-general has made it very clear that while the virus is not something to panic over, there remains many unanswered questions, and even more caution surrounding something completely new for which there is no instant solution. Ignoring any of the token criticism one could make towards the U.N. and international politics, the first thing someone should remember is what WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said when he declared the virus a “public health emergency of international concern” in late January.

“The main reason for this declaration is not because of what is happening in China, but because of what is happening in other countries. Our greatest concern is the potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems, and which are ill-prepared to deal with it.”

That can mean more than just the typical “third world” country someone thinks about, it can mean any country with vulnerable areas in its public health systems. You are most likely not going to catch this new coronavirus, and it’s even less likely that you would die from it. As long as you maintain standard hygiene practices that most people know, you should be fine. 

So basically what I’m saying is simple: STOP coughing into your hands! What are we, living in the stone age? Are we about to take revenge on a rival city state by burning down their civilization and salting their land? Every time I see someone cough into their hands (and not immediately clean them), I can visualize the boils and bubos bubbling up from their palms, watching in horror as I see pestilence envelop their belongings and space — it is an affront to the very idea of hygiene. Even the CDC agrees, you should never cough into your hands. Use your upper sleeve for the love of all that is good. 

If you would like to keep up-to-date with information about the coronavirus, or want to catch-up, The North Star has a great news series that summarizes the week’s headlines. It’s bound to include COVID-19 and might be a little easier to wade through than a New York Times update list. 

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