Coronavirus – How to Stay Safe

There are millions of viruses in the animal kingdom which have not found its way into the human species yet. However, when humans are in close contact with animals (especially something like a live food market in China) there is a high chance that certain viruses will mutate and find its way into humans.

The most recent outbreak of Coronavirus (Covid-19) is a result of the disgusting live food market in China. (Watch some YouTube videos on it and you will be shocked at the cruelty to animals).

This particular strain of the virus has the tendency to spread fast because it doesn’t need physical contact with other human beings to spread. The virus spreads via droplets when people infected with it cough or sneeze.

According to the latest updates, India has reported 5 cases of Coronavirus and 3 of them have been from Kerala. It looks like something that can be ignored now, but it is more dangerous than it seems.

1000s of people travel into the country every day from international locations and I believe the cases of Coronavirus will go up. Globally, around 90,000 people have been affected according to the news reports and updates and more than 3,000 have been a victim of it. This is a global emergency.

The fatality rate is around 2-3% but what’s more worrisome is that the virus spread fast and the symptoms are not obvious. This is the most viral virus humans have encountered in recent times. Until we find a cure or vaccine for this virus, we need to be cautious. People who are infected might not know they are infected and hence they are more likely to spread it to others.

How to Stay Safe from Coronavirus

Though this virus has a tendency to spread fast, you can stay safe from it. You should also encourage others to stay safe. I’ve been watching a lot of videos and reading a lot of blogs about it, and in this post, I would like to share what I know.

Wash / Sanitize Your Hands Frequently

We touch a lot of things around us. And then we touch our face. The virus enters our body through our eyes, nose, and mouth. When we touch a surface that might be infected and then we touch our face, we will be letting the virus go inside our bodies. It is a good practice to wash our hands frequently. If you mostly stay indoors, it need not be that frequent. If you are mostly outdoors, wash them as frequently as you can. Use a hand sanitizer if you can’t get access to a hand wash.

Wear a Face Mask

Wearing a face mask prevents you from touching your face – especially your nose and mouth. It also prevents from inhaling any droplet particles from the air. If you have a cold and if you are sneezing, it protects the other people around you. Do not use a simple mask. Use the ones that cover your face properly. You can get an air pollution mask from a medical store that will cover your face in a more sophisticated way than a simple medical mask.

Travel Less & Stay Indoors

Crowded places, airports, cinema theatres, shopping malls, etc. are the most dangerous places. It increases the chances you will catch the infection from someone who is infected. Avoid these places as much as you can. The less you travel and go out, the less are the chances you will get Coronavirus.

Spread The Information

Just like I’ve taken an initiative to spread information about Coronavirus and how to stay safe from it, you need to blog about it, make a video about it, and share content with others. Because it doesn’t matter what we do individually. If we have to control the spread of this virus within the country and the world, we need to be proactive and make sure that everyone is safe. If more people get infected, higher is the chance we will get infected as well.

Prevent Misinformation

There is a lot of misinformation going around about Coronavirus. Some people think that it comes from Chinese food. Some people think that the might get it from items imported from China. The only way it can spread is from human to human proximity and physical contact. Though it is true that the cause of the outbreak in China and most of the infected people are Chinese, it is important not to be racist about this issue. If you see misinformation about this issue, please correct them, for yourself and for others. As of now, there is no cure or vaccination for this virus.

Do Not Quarantine a Group

If someone is known to be infected with Coronavirus, it is best to isolate them. If they are part of a group, it is not recommended to quarantine the entire group. This is a huge mistake and plain stupid. Japan quarantined an entire cruise ship because some were known to be infected and it ended up infecting more than 700 people. (Google about it). So if there is a passenger in an aircraft or a bus that is known to be infected with Coronavirus, they should be isolated. If the entire group is quarantined, then everyone in the group will be infected which will be a bigger risk for everyone else.

Resources & References

Here are some of the resources and references which might be of help.

Content related to Coronavirus

I sincerely hope that the spread of this virus subsides. If I can think of anything that’s good about this outbreak, it shows how vulnerable humans and how insignificant we are on the cosmic scale.

Maybe, just maybe, it will make us liberal. When humans are faced with a greater danger to our own survival things like racism, fascism and bigotry will take a back seat. Because they pose a greater danger to the survival of our species than a respiratory disease.

I will update this blog post if I get more information about this. If you have any updates on Coronavirus in India that are verified, please leave them in the comments below so I can update this article. I hope the death toll for Coronavirus in India remains zero.

Watch out for Coronavirus symptoms, stay safe, watch this space for updates and let’s hope that a cure and vaccine for Coronavirus is invented soon.

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