Posted 3/10/2020 5:58 PM (GMT 0)
Covind -19 Coronavirus poses a special problem to Lyme patients because while governments may be expected to target help at those with recognised chronic diseases, a large percentage of us have an UNRECOGNISED chronic disease.
We can debate and hope and research and even pray about any number of drugs , herbals etc, but the one PROVEN measure that is known to protect people is simply this: SOCIAL DISTANCING.
As much as possible, chronic Lyme sufferers (and even more so if they are very ill, older, or have other co-morbid conditions) need to practice social distancing. Inother words - STAY AWAY from other people as much as humanly possible.
We hear a lot of propaganda and politically-charged stories about China, but despite the tens of thousands of cases and over 3000 deaths that occurred in Hubei province, the fact is, that it is petering out in China. The main driver of the epidemic now is western Europe.
If you have any doubts about that please .see the WHO's current situation report (9 March 2020) . Scroll down to Figure 2 on the page at:
https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200309-sitrep-49-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=70dabe61_4
The true number of cases in Europe and the USA is unknown, as true mass-scale testing for the virus has not yet taken place in Europe and the USA. So we DO NOT YET KNOW the true number of cases we have here in the west.
Many people currently in hospital with what was thought to be a severe "ordinary" pneumonia or flu will prove to be Coronavirus patients.
But the good news for the rest of the world outside China is this: we can LEARN from the way China was able to keep the vast majority of the rest of its huge country outside of Hubei province, its enormous population of 1.4 Billion people, SAFE.
Even at the height of the epidemic in Wuhan and its surrounding area, the rest of China only had very small numbers of cases.
And now even in Hubei province the virus is fading away - not because of any natural tendency but because of the HUGE lockdown.
They have done this not with any drugs or treatment but simply by putting in place extremely drastic quarantine-type measures for the WHOLE POPULATION. No gatherings, no transport except for emergency and essential staff: everyone STAYING AT HOME.
Yes, it is drastic and it is inconvenient, it is unprecedented and it is going to have a terrible impact on their economy, and it is already affecting the world economy.
But they HAD to do it because it is the ONLY thing right now that can reliably protect sick , elderly and otherwise vulnerable people in the absence of any proven treatment or vaccine.
Bottom line - if you have chronic Lyme, stay at home as much as you possibly can.
Keep FAR AWAY from public transport. Keep FAR AWAY from any crowds, or even small gatherings if they are indoors and people are sitting close together.
When you do go out, wash hands frequently and then use an alcohol-based sanitiser with at least 62% alcohol content, assuming you are fortunate enough to have any.
Keep hands OFF your face as the virus infects by entering the mucous membrane of your nose, mouth or eyes.
If you have respiratory symptoms of any kind - cough, sneeze, sniffling etc - it's even more important to stay home and in that situation, wear a medical mask if you have one. Learn how to put a mask on and off effectively, and how to wash your hands like a healthcare professional.
There is a very large amount of good, jargon-free , regularly updated information for the public on the website of the World Health Organisation (https://www.who.int )Simply click on the link under Coronavirus and you will find a page with a section "For the Public" , available in several languages.
The WHO has all the world's top scientists collaborating together, so their information is less likely to be biased than that which is put out by the government of any single country. We should NOT believe that our governments know better than the WHO.
Here where I live in London we will UNDOUBTEDLY have large numbers of cases because our public health campaign has been half-hearted and is a FAILURE.
I try to avoid public transport as much as I can but when I ride the tube in London (subway), I am in a box with people coughing into each other's faces constantly.
To date I have not seen ONE person do the recommended advice of coughing into a tissue and then disposing of it and sanitising their hands.
The few people who try to cover their cough, cover their mouths with their hands. On public transport this is arguably even WORSE than not covering it at all. Their hands, contaminated with virus will spread it to all the surfaces they touch , the escalator handrails etc etc which , in cities like London are touched by MILLIONS of people each day.
Why did the public health campaign fail? Because it was too little, too confused, not visible enough in the right places, and people were simultaneously swamped with a ton of other coronavirus information from the media, much of which was trivial, incomplete or inaccurate. So people have switched off.
Moreever, people noticed that much of the afdvice from our government is IMPOSSIBLE to obey.
People have been told to wash theur hands frequently, sanitise their hands with alcohol rub, keep 1-2 metres away from anyone coughing or sneezing, use a tissue if they must cough and bin it immediately, then sanitise hands immediately after.
But while pumping this message out for weeks, our govt did nothing to ensure the supply of alcohol rub. So now, in many towns it is literally IMPOSSIBLE to buy any at any shop, (and mosat reliable online outlets are now sold out too).
There is predictably a thriving trade in ridiculously expensive counterfeit products, or products with too little alcohol to be of any use.
So the millions of Londoners who commute by tube train or bus each day are boarding a train or bus where it is IMPOSSIBLE to wash your hands, IMPOSSIBLE to keep 1-2 metres away from coughing people, IMPOSSIBLE to throw a tissue in the bin because there are NO BINS, impossible to sanitise your hands because the country has run out of rub (except for the Health Service and the catering industry).
This virus is not as lethal as SARS, but it is extremely contagious. 80% of those who catch it are expected to be OK; 15 % will get a severe case requiring hospitalisation, and 5% will need a ventilator or other extreme high-tech measures to save their lives.
The good news is that healthy children and teens under 20 are largely expected to be OK.
The bad news is that older people, people with suppressed immune systems and chronically ill people are at very high risk. They will make up most of the 20% who have a severe case.
In 2020 we have fantastic high-tech measures that can save the lives of people in respiratory failure and/or septic shock.
But if the NUMBERS of people requiring these measures are huge, even the richest country's health system will be rapidly overwhelmed.
That's why we need SOCIAL DISTANCING - keep away from other people now - don't wait till your government tells you you have thousands and thousands of cases - do it NOW to the extent that you can..
I understand Donald Trump has said :
" I'll be shaking hands with people and [if] they want to say hello and hug you and kiss you, I don't care."
(https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-coronavirus-reason-not-to-shake-hands)
This is too stupid for words.
His wife is equally moronic:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8074207/Melania-Trump-defies-coronavirus-fears-shake-hands-HUG-women-giving-awards.html
In France, President Macron has told the nation to stop their centuries-old traditional greeting of a kiss, and not shake hands either.
He's also started to ban gatherings
"Gatherings of more than 1,000 people have been prohibited since the weekend, leading to museum closures – including the Louvre – and several sporting events and concerts being called off. Madonna's Paris concerts this week as part of her "Madame X" tour were among those cancelled. "
https://www.france24.com/en/20200310-we-are-only-at-the-beginning-of-the-coronavirus-epidemic-macron-says
This won't be enough, as gatherings of much less than 1000 people can still spread the virus widely, esp when people are close together in confined spaces without ventilation.
But it is still light years better than the unforgivably stupid and dangerous example set by Donald Trump and his wife, which is tantamount to mass murder as so many gullible people may follow him.
And it is still better than the negligent , feeble public health information campaign, and false re-assurances of our government here in Britain, who keep insisting our Health Service can cope with anything, when in fact their Conservative Party spent years running it down and refusing to fund it properly, so that it was in a universally-acknowledged crisis even BEFORE the coronavirus came along..
Their priority is cutting public spending, not saving lives. And it seems none of them have ever rode a rush-hour train or travelled on a bus before in their lives. If they had, they would know how impossible it is for millions of people who live in our cities to keep 1-2 metres away from coughing people when they get on a train or a bus.
They are even telling the hospital staff to use Bleach disinfectant at one-fifth the concentration that the WHO has recommended.
Why one-fifth? What possible arrogance or stupidity can explain their belief that they know better than the WHO on this?
It's clear that balancing the budget is more important to our Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Public Health England than protecting patients and healthcare staff and saving lives..
I suspect that most of PHE know full well the public health campaign has been too little, too late, and that our government has endangered everyone by refusing to take the WHO's simple advice, such as ensuring supplies of essentials like alcohol sanitiser are available for all who need it, or using the right strength of Bleach.
I suspect PHE know it - but are too cowardly to oppose the government's penny-pinching agenda.
British Lyme patients are very used to our Public Health officials denying our human rights. They follow the US Denialist agenda to the letter, and sometimes even surpass it.
But now it is the whole population of elderly and vulnerable that is at risk from their negligence, not just Lyme patients.
The answer to your poll question "Is the coronavirus coming for us all"?
No, it's only coming mainly for the ill and the old.
But if don't listen to the World Health Organisation, that could mean MILLIONS of sick and old people worldwide.
Wise up - IGNORE Donald Trump, ignore Boris Johnson, WASH your hands, keep your hands off your face, keep AWAY from other people, and survive, like over !.4 billion Chinese people have..
Elena Cook
Twitter @ElenaCookLD