The onset of the Covid-19 or “Coronavirus” pandemic has shocked communities around the world. It has taken governments by surprise and provoked responses that have in several cases only served to make the situation worse in their effort to either deny the seriousness of the contagion or conceal their own negligence in the spread of the disease. Meanwhile, as citizens of the world’s affected countries struggle to make sense of the crisis, some have led themselves and others down the gardsen path of conspiracy theory, paranoia and xenophobia. The possibility that some of their suspicions may have merit does not change the fact that turning on one another is perhaps the worst response to what threatens to rival the 1918 flu pandemic in its potential to kill millions of people, perhaps due to misinformed and panicked reactions to what might otherwise be a manageable crisis.
While the time will come to point fingers at self-centered propagandists who sowed panic and at corrupt or incompetent politicians who failed to respond in a timely manner to the crisis or deceived themselves and the public about the seriousness of this contagion, the most important questions for many of us at this uncertain time are, What exactly is Covid-19 or the “Coronavirus”? What organizations are working on the ground to render assistance, provide information or advocate for struggling and marginalized communities? What do we need to know and do right now to protect ourselves and stay healthy, while the health care system seems to be in the process of being overwhelmed and political leaders seem unable to adequately respond to the situation?
We’ve often gotten initial information from Web sites like Wikipedia, primarily because the rather communal nature of the site (contributions from a variety of researchers and writers who share their information in a rather “open-source” fashion) seems to minimize corporate or political influence on the information, and their extensive use of footnotes indicates a degree of journalistic integrity in that shared information is not only researched (as opposed to being limited to the writer’s personal opinions), but is also shared so readers can check the sources. The following are excerpts from Wikipedia’s article on Coronavirus 2019 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronavirus_disease_2019):
Coronavirus disease 2019
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Symptoms: Fever, cough, shortness of breath[6]
Complications: Pneumonia, ARDS, kidney failure
Prevention: Correct hand washing technique, cough etiquette, avoiding close contact with sick people or subclinical carriers
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease was first identified in 2019 in Wuhan, China, and has since spread globally, resulting in the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic. Common symptoms include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Muscle pain, sputum production and sore throat are less common. While the majority of cases result in mild symptoms, some progress to severe pneumonia and multi-organ failure. The rate of deaths per number of diagnosed cases is on average 3.4%, ranging from 0.2% in those under 20, to approximately 15% in those over 80 years old.
The infection is typically spread from one person to another via respiratory droplets produced during coughing and sneezing. Time from exposure to onset of symptoms is generally between two and 14 days, with an average of five days. The standard method of diagnosis is by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) from a nasopharyngeal swab. The infection can also be diagnosed from a combination of symptoms, risk factors and a chest CT scan showing features of pneumonia.
Recommended measures to prevent infection include frequent hand washing, maintaining distance from others, and not touching one’s face. The use of masks is recommended for those who suspect they have the virus and their caregivers, but not the general public. There is no vaccine or specific antiviral treatment for COVID-19. Management involves treatment of symptoms, supportive care, isolation, and experimental measures.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the 2019–20 coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Evidence of local transmission of the disease has been found in many countries across all six WHO regions.
Although those infected with the virus may be asymptomatic, many develop flu-like symptoms including fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Less commonly, upper respiratory symptoms such as sneezing, runny nose, or sore throat may be seen. Gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea are seen in a minority of cases, and some of the initial cases in China presented with only cardiac symptoms, like chest tightness and palpitations. In some, the disease may progress to pneumonia, multi-organ failure, and death.
As is common with infections, there is a delay from when a person is infected with the virus to when they develop symptoms, known as the incubation period. The incubation period for COVID-19 is typically five to six days but may range from two to 14 days.
Mild cases typically recover within two weeks, while those with severe or critical disease may take three to six weeks to recover. Among those who have died, the time from symptom onset to death has ranged from two to eight weeks. …
Dr. Li Wenliang (right), a doctor at Central Hospital of Wuhan and one of the first to warn others about the disease, sadly contracted COVID-19 himself and later died.
The virus’ tragic real-world impact on “the people on the ground” was reported in a March 18, 2020 article by Kelly McLaughlin (https://news.yahoo.com/5-members-single-jersey-family-142749752.html) about a New Jersey family that contracted COVID-19 at a family gathering. When the article was written, two of the family members had died, and at least one other member succumbed to the disease shortly after the article was written.
An ABC News article by Erin Shumaker, Coronavirus map: Tracking the spread in the US and around the world (https://abcnews.go.com/Health/coronavirus-map-tracking-spread-us-world/story?id=69415591), appears to track the daily status of the COVID-19 outbreak across the United States. The article was initially written on March 18, 2020 and has been updated on a regular basis as the crisis develops.
Measures taken by World Governments, the United States Government and Local Governments in the US
In the early stages, several world leaders seemed to engage in a contest to see who could most effectively deny the seriousness of the outbreak until the contagion had gone nearly out-of-control. China had initially silenced Dr. Li Wenliang when he had tried to warn the public about the danger of the outbreak, even forcing him to sign a statement that he had overstated his claims before the contagion had become so serious that Dr. Li himself became infected and later died from COVID-19. In the United States, president Donald Trump had initially insisted that the virus would diminish by April and that Americans had nothing to worry about before the explosive spread of coronavirus diagnoses forced him to reverse his field and claim that the US was now “at war” with the virus and that he had always known this to be the case.
A number of administration officials have been placed in charge of the US response, largely under the leadership of vice president Mike Pence, and so far the steps taken have concentrated on economic measures to stem the damage to the stock market (to little effect) and the general economy (some of which may lend assistance to those whose jobs have been suspended and businesses closed due to the collapse of the personal-service sector). Trump’s remarks have included information on measures his administration has taken and will take, though they are sometimes better remembered for his occasional boasts of the “great job” he and his administration are doing and his arguments with members of the press, calling one reporter a “terrible journalist” and disparaging another’s question as “nasty”. While immunologist, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force Dr. Anthony Fauci has discussed certain important medical issues at these almost-daily press conferences, governors across the US have been increasingly asking for more, calling for emergency federal action to authorize the mobilization of the military to send critically-needed supplies to a hospital system that many fear is on the verge of collapse. Nurses and doctors have pleaded for protective gear while they have sometimes been advised to make their own or even use scarves and bandanas in place of tested and approved protective gowns, gloves and masks. And testing kits remain in short supply, so that the intensive testing regimen that was employed by Singapore and other nations that have more effectively handled the outbreak remains an impossibility in the US. Notably, /west Virginia was the last state to report a positive coronavirus test, but that was likely due to the lack of a clear testing procedure which made the effective diagnosis (and thus identification and treatment) of West Virginians who experienced symptoms impossible for some time.
The shortage of heavier hospital equipment is also a critical concern. US automakers have ceased production of cars and trucks and it has been proposed that they retool their factories to build respirators that will be needed in the event that the virus continues its spread, leading to pneumonia-like symptoms that will require patients to obtain assistance breathing. The state of Washington and its associated counties have purchased motel buildings to convert them to makeshift hospitals, and took over an athletic field to build a tent hospital there, likely inspired by the Chinese government’s erecting a full hospital on an empty lot in a matter of days as their response to the outbreak became more serious. This type of technological and industrial improvisation may become a critical part of a comprehensive response to the outbreak.
An increasing number of governors have instituted control measures to help prevent transmission of the virus between citizens. Maryland, California, Michigan, Washington State, Illinois, Florida and New York were among the first to institute practically everything short of curfews and martial law, closing restaurants, theaters and shopping malls, banning gatherings of more than fifty or even ten people, and urging citizens to regularly wash their hands or use hand sanitizers in an effort to kill germs that may include the Covid-19 virus and practice “social distancing”, maintaining a personal perimeter of at least six feet and keeping that distance from other persons.
Grocery and warehouse stores have responded to the initial frenzy of panic-buying that saw a run on toilet paper, hand sanitizer, bottled water and non-perishable goods by instituting limits on the numbers of specific items that could be purchased in any single visit. My personal experience was that hand sanitizer was the first item to go from the shelves. Less than a week later, friends were posting on Facebook photos of empty shelves that once stocked toilet paper. During the week of March 15-21, signs at the local Costco announced a limit of one item of fresh chicken (though by that time, the bin was empty anyway), fresh ground beef (also none to be found anyway) and frozen ground beef, and certainly other items as well. Grocery stores, fast food and other restaurants are making an effort to adjust to this situation by instituting free delivery of meals and grocery items so customers can shop while avoiding contact with others.
Meanwhile, the populace has apparently responded with a variety of attitudes from blissful ignorance (apparently believing Trump’s initial assertion that the outbreak would abate shortly, or that the worst effects of the contagion simply would not happen to them) to suspicion (those who believe that the outbreak is a hoax or an attempt to distract the population from a more nefarious agenda, which in turn causes them to question the seriousness of the infection) to near-panic (runs on the stores and hoarding of massive quantities of essential goods, coupled with fatalistic predictions of what is going to take place). Claims that Afrikan people were immune were circulated for a brief while, despite the reports of even famous celebrities such as actor Idris Elba, professional basketball star Kevin Durant and Afrobeat composer/musician Manu Dibango becoming infected, among others. Suspicions have been raised that Covid-19 is actually a biological weapon designed to target specific populations, but those claims have not been backed up with evidence, and the fact that the disease has struck people from practically all countries and races casts that theory in doubt. Somewhere in that range of reactions there are those who are staying informed, doing principled research to determine the nature of the disease and its possible origin, but in the meantime increasing their clear-eyed vigilance with regard to hygiene, avoiding unnecessary contact with others and making themselves and their environments as healthy and clean as possible.
One major casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the social interactions that we all take for granted. Except for those few who continued to assemble in groups against all advice to attend Spring Break events, go to the beach in Florida or visit the cherry blossoms in Washington, DC, gatherings have been cancelled for fear of risking spreading the virus. Not only has this cast a pall over what would have been any number of family and community social gatherings, but it also has curtailed the activities of grassroots organizations that normally meet with community members as a fundamental part of their outreach to the people. The key is to serve the community by reaching out but to also serve the community by doing everything possible to maintain the people’s safety. Future posts will discuss the responses of some of the Pan-Afrikan and community organizations to the outbreak as they work to maintain their effectiveness in this trying time.