Unpreparedness for a Pandemic

[VonDerTann]

Good post. We can only be so safe. That said, we touch SO many things in an average trip to the supermarket: door knobs; car door; products; shopping cart handle; the zipper on our coat; our keys, wallet, and money, etc. those things can all harbor germs.

Everybody wash your hands!

 

[Lara]

I didn’t discuss aerosolized spread at all. I only discussed hand washing.

If what you are saying is correct, many people get ill because they don’t regularly wash their hands. I highly doubt this. Do you really think the prime minister’s wife, Sophie Gregoire, got COVID-19 from not washing her hands? All the civilized people I know wash their hands plenty as it is, and possibly too often. I probably wash my hands over sixty times a day. Perhaps one hundred times. But I still always get ill around Christmas time when my vacation starts.

I agree with the OP in thinking that telling people to wash their hands is inane advice.

I believe more that people who get sick likely breathed in the germs at a time when their immune systems were lower or completely down, such as mine is at Christmas time.

Many germs are all around us all the time. We cannot hide from them. Rather, we need to get strong to overcome their omnipresence. We can hide from Covid for a while, but it will always be around. The only good thing we’re doing now is that we are avoiding overwhelming the hospitals. Other than that, we will still see many many months of COVID. Our economies will go to shreds, weakening our immune systems as we fight to survive without money.

People also need to challenge their immune systems to keep them strong (but not with financial stress).

What we’re seeing now is mass hysteria about death. Death from flus is unavoidable, though it is perhaps good to reduce the curve for a short time. Notice how they never compare Covid number of deaths to those from the regular flu. Those numbers are poorly collected for some reason.

 

[LilyM]

I didn’t discuss aerosolized spread at all. I only discussed hand washing.

If what you are saying is correct, many people get ill because they don’t regularly wash their hands. I highly doubt this. Do you really think the prime minister’s wife, Sophie Gregoire, got COVID-19 from not washing her hands? All the civilized people I know wash their hands plenty as it is, and possibly too often. I probably wash my hands over sixty times a day. Perhaps one hundred times. But I still always get ill around Christmas time when my vacation starts.

I agree with the OP in thinking that telling people to wash their hands is inane advice.

I believe more that people who get sick likely breathed in the germs at a time when their immune systems were lower or completely down, such as mine is at Christmas time.

Many germs are all around us all the time. We cannot hide from them. Rather, we need to get strong to overcome their omnipresence. We can hide from Covid for a while, but it will always be around. The only good thing we’re doing now is that we are avoiding overwhelming the hospitals. Other than that, we will still see many many months of COVID. Our economies will go to shreds, weakening our immune systems as we fight to survive without money.

People also need to challenge their immune systems to keep them strong (but not with financial stress).

What we’re seeing now is mass hysteria about death. Death from flus is unavoidable, though it is perhaps good to reduce the curve for a short time. Notice how they never compare Covid number of deaths to those from the regular flu. Those numbers are poorly collected for some reason.

60 times a day? Assuming you are not washing your hands while you sleep, and sleep the average 8 hours, that is once every sixteen minutes. That is a lot.

I should think most people, unless they work in a profession which requires frequent hand-washing, wouldn’t even think about cleaning their hands except after they visit the bathroom and before eating. Or on the odd occasion they get their hands dirty or sticky.

 

[VonDerTann]

Lara, your post is nothing but supposition and “I think,” completely divorced from reality or fact.

Many people DO get ill by not washing their hands. Have you ever, say, picked up a serving spoon on a buffet line and wondered who’s handled it before you? Things like that are one of the easiest ways for germs to spread.

You’re free to substitute your feelings and opinions for fact. Many people do so. Some people think the earth is flat, because…well, they just think so. They won’t be told otherwise.

I would respectfully suggest you do the most basic research into hand washing before you knock it.

While we’re at it, exactly how - I mean exactly - are people supposed to “challenge” their immune systems? What exactly would that look like? Would you like to deliberately expose yourself to viruses, in the hopes of doing so? Kinda curious how you think we ought to do that, and why.

 

[esieffe]

educators in grades K - 12 who are also required to teach their students online.

Yes, try doing special ed online… I am having to go through the motions, but there are far worse things. I am just glad I have a job. THAT would be rough… Stay safe metlz

 

[Lara]

I’m saying most people wash their hands enough. Asking them to wash their hands more is not likely to yield results.

If you happen upon a dirty spoon in a buffet line, it won’t mean a thing. Your food doesn’t touch the spot where the dirty hand was. You dump the food on your plate, eat it with clean utensils, and then afterwards you wash it all down with beer. You go to the loo and wash your hands and all is well. If you get sick, it’s more likely because the food wasn’t at the right temperature in the buffet or it sat there too long.

I think germaphobes get germs precisely because they rarely encounter enough of them. So when a doozie comes along, they’re flat on their back. Challenge your system. Try not washing your remote control or your smart phone for one year. That’s about how often I use rubbing alcohol on my remote control. There are layers of bacteria on that thing. And guess what, it doesn’t matter one iota for my health. My flus or colds come from my system being down, not the particular bug on a remote control. At least that’s how it goes in my house. No medical advice is to be inferred from my post. It is strictly opinion.

 

[puer.dei]

No medical advice is to be inferred from my post. It is strictly opinion.

That’s good, because it flies in the face of actual medical advice.

 

[Lara]

So you think people don’t wash their hands enough and that’s why they get sick? I just finished telling you that all the civilized people I know wash their hands more than enough and still get sick. Getting things from the air must be how people usually get sick.

Medical opinion is usually not correct for me. For the last 21 years, at my yearly medical appointment, the doctor, an expert in his field, tell me that I will need a liver in 5-10 years. Of course, that hasn’t been the case. Medical doctors told my Mom she could travel while pregnant with twins, and after she did, she lost the twins. Doctors only know a very small percentage about the body. They repeat all kinds of things to do with the diagnosis, but somehow the cure isn’t there. In no other field would we accept such poor results.

The truth is the body is a mystery.