COVID-19 and the world's gone mad.

First, let me start by saying that I'm an introvert: a retired, barely ever leaves the house despite being healthy, introvert that prefers pets and painting and tearing into a house destroying project over shopping, partying, or even family time.

Right after the Social Security check arrives, I go get some groceries every month.  This month, signs apologizing for no hand sanitizer (I  never buy that, I have a sink and soap and water--after 40 years as an RN, I realize that it's sometimes convenient but not a necessity) and almost no toilet paper, low on facial tissue also.

Peoples carts were overflowing.

I live in a state that rarely gets snow; you can count on a huge grocery store emptying after every prediction of snow.

The store and shoppers looked like that.

So, I contact someone I used to work with.  The state has had four positive tests for COVID-19.  No fatalities.
The Coronavirus group is known for the SARS outbreak and the MERS outbreak.
The current COVID-19 outbreak has killed more than 6 thousand worldwide, and 41 in the United states.  It first came to attention in China in December of 2019.  We in the USA didn't start testing for it until March of 2020.  A fourth of a year has passed.  I'm not going to comment on what is going on in the middle east, in China, or in Italy or Spain.  But here in the USA, where we dismantled the pandemic team put together for Ebola because the current president doesn't like the previous president and dismantles everything he did, we spent our 4 months of prep. time (was it prep time?  Just because we didn't test anyone or diagnose anyone, doesn't mean it wasn't here.) denying science(as usual), screaming about the virus being either a hoax or fake news or a democrat created biological warfare release (gotta love conspiracy theoriests) or hoax.  We refused the WHO tests, and waited for tests that needed to be created---by the inlaws family of the president.  Then we argued about how much to charge and since we didn't have that many, who could get tested.

Reality check time.

Between 1900 and 1904, one city in the USA--San Francisco, lost 113 people to the Bubonic plague.  (yes, the black death, the scourge of medieval Europe.)  One city, when every city was much smaller than it is today.
Between 1910 and 1912, China lost over 40,000 people to the same black plague disease.
In 1918, 50 to 100 million people died of the Spanish flu, (influenza A H1N1); that was about one twentieth to one fifth of the world population. That means, if you knew 5 people, one of them died. or 5-20 out of 100 people.  It wasn't absolutely fair, sometimes whole families died, sometimes whole towns missed it.
Between 1957 and 1958, 2 million people worldwide died of asian flu (influenza A H2N2).
Between 1968 and 1969, the Hong Kong flu killed about a million worldwide (influenza A H3N2)
Between 1920 and now, HIV/AIDS has killed over 32 million people world wide. That is an average of 320 thousand a year, (and yes, it has existed that long, but was mostly in Africa until the 1970's and the virus not identified until the 1980s)
In 2009, an H1N1 flu pandemic killed between 151 thousand and 575 thousand people world wide. (if you don't test anyone and have no hospitals, and no public health department, does it make a sound?)
In the last 10 years, Cholera has killed almost 10 thousand people on the little island of Hispaniola. In that same same time, measles has killed over 4500 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo--out of a population of 80 million.
In 2012, 862 people dieds of MERS--a corona Virus.
Between 2013 and 2016, more than 11 thousand people died of Ebola.
In 2015, over 2,000 people in India died of the Indian Swine Flu (another influenza A H1N1)
From 2018 to now, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, more than 2,000 have died of Ebola and 5,000 of the Measles.
From 2019 to now, the COVID-19 virus has killed over 6,000 people worldwide--in about 4 months, over 40 of those in USA. (The US population is over 300 million)
Death by war worldwide in 2016 was over 100 thousand.
Suicide deaths the same year in the USA was over 45,000.
In 2017, there were over 39 thousand gun deaths, over 60 thousand drug overdose deaths, and over 45 thousand motor vehicle deaths in the USA.

We ignored the Corona Virus pandemic for 4 months and have lost >40 people.
We could have prevented that.   We laughed about it being no worse than the flu (note how often the Influenza A virus has created a deadly pandemic)
I think the panic is as much about a feeling that our government is not stable as it is about a virus.

I have no explanation for why all those highly preventable suicides, MVA's, and gun deaths are not causing any concern.

I guess that is not going to be fixed with hand sanitizer and toilet paper and a staycation.

Now, turn on the sink, wash your hands with a good load of soap until you have sung the entire happy birthday song at a regular speed, rinse off, grab a paper towel to turn off the water, and dry off your hand with a different paper towel. At home use a nice clean guest towel. And stop touching everybody and every thing.

Be Well and Be Calm.

addendum:  a week later, 49 people with the virus in this state and 1 death.  The groceru stores are now crowded all day long, toilet paper and hand sanitizer is gone; so are eggs.  Whole families came in to do the shopping.  Walmart, a block from the store I went to, is packed.  I am going to have to try the grocery pick up.  The store I went to at 1100 am on a friday is usually empty.