The outbreak of the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 has created continual panic and paranoia since it was first detected and diagnosed a relatively short time ago.
People are understandably scared because there is so much uncertainty about the virus.
The best thing for everyone to do at this stage is to remain vigilant. Watch for updated news reports and developments because the situation seems to be changing daily.
The thing you shouldn’t be doing is running to Costco and buying six years’ worth of toilet paper or stocking up on everything on the shelves. This is not a nuclear war, but a health crisis that the experts are working on understanding and eventually containing and snuffing out entirely once a vaccine has been formulated.
It is always reasonable to have supplies on hand for emergency purposes, but a run on the stores to buy everything in sight doesn’t make sense unless you’re planning on hanging out in a bunker until the threat passes.
The problem with COVID-19 is we were already in the midst of a bad flu and cold season when it struck. No one was sure what symptoms fit what criteria after that.
While the risk in Canada of contracting COVID-19 we’re being told remains relatively low, the way it’s spreading in many parts of the world is cause for concern.
As a result, people are taking a proactive approach and, unfortunately, some major events around the world are already being cancelled as a precautionary measure.
Reader Peter Ordynec makes some good points in an email to The Courier. Every community has to make some kind of effort to relay the message about the virus to its citizens - that important information about what to expect, what to do and who to call.
The care home factor both in Washington state and B.C. where elderly patients with weakened immune systems could be vulnerable is especially concerning. Every community has one and this is where the risk could escalate.
Ordynec indicates we need our politicians and health care authorities to inform us on how to be prepared and that seems reasonable. We need a starting point with this very volatile global virus still spreading like wildfire.