Covid-19 Traumatised Us All In Different Ways
The reactions to the Hantavirus outbreak is proof
People react to disease outbreaks differently. Some with indifference, some with panic, and some with outright denial.
Since the Pandemic, those reactions have only gotten more extreme.
The recent news of a Hantavirus outbreak on board a cruise ship has taken the world by storm — I’ve seen everything from immediate panic, gallows humor about getting time off from work, conspiracy theories about Trump creating the virus to mess with the upcoming midterm elections, and so on.
People are having straight up flashbacks.
It’s understandable. I myself knew what Hantavirus was and how best to avoid it, as we have wild rodents all over our neighborhood here, and even then I was nervously searching for where the evacuees from the ship were self isolating.
Human to human transmission is quite rare, currently limited to one strain as far as I know, but given how deadly the disease is it has us all on edge. Unfortunately, it is believed that the current outbreak is the Andes strain, which is the nasty one for human populations.
And besides, when any disease spreads, it can mutate. We know there are a thousand strains of Covid at this point, and that’s very normal.
The next Hantavirus mutation could be deadlier, or more contagious. Human to human transmission could become easier and more likely. No way to know. Still, as long as appropriate safety measures are followed, the spread should be minimal.
The best way to avoid another Pandemic is to take adequate precautions and follow the rules.
My heart goes out to the families of those who have already passed on. It’s truly a horrible tragedy. Hantavirus can be unpredictable in how it impacts the body, and there is no cure. All they can do is manage the symptoms, treat it as best they can, and hope.
With the incubation period being so long, it’s very difficult to know if you’ve potentially been exposed. If you’ve been travelling by plane during the time the cruise ship has been evacuated and tourists have been going home, please keep an eye on the news and see if you need to be cautious.
For all our sakes, please be cautious.
It doesn’t help my nerves that I just happened to come down with a classic cold just as this news exploded. I’m fighting off the body aches and chills, reminding myself not to panic spiral over symptoms.
I work in a pharmacy. Half the people coming up to the register have a cold right now; I keep reminding myself that getting sick is inevitable and nothing to worry about.
The only thing I need to worry about is the 8-hour shift on my schedule tomorrow. I’ll be masking if I go in. Better safe than sorry.
For some people, even the sight of a medical mask is enough to bring on the panic. I know it brings back horrible memories that nobody wants to deal with. The local hospitals, doctor’s offices and clinics here still ask that people mask up and sanitize their hands before entering because it makes the workers feel safer.
I can’t blame them. And frankly, during cold and flu season I consider it highly useful advice even in normal years. The less people spread that shit around, the happier I’ll be.
I’ll be spending the rest of my day off resting and trying not to stare at the news too much. I’ve got a few cans of chicken soup set aside, since I don’t have the energy to make any from scratch right now and I feel pitiful.
Wish me luck getting over this quickly. I hope that soon this latest health panic will end and we can all relax once more.
Solidarity wins.
This new scare from this hantavirus outbreak should be taken seriously, mostly since countries are in panic mode right now out of ignorance instead of having a plan to quarantine the passengers in order to determine their infection rate. Now, because of this ignorance and denial, some of the passengers have gotten off the boat without getting checked. Will it spread? No one knows for sure right now, and that should worry people.
I've caught COVID-19 three times now Sam despite being somewhat of a hermit and each time the vector of infection was a health professional. After this last time I would have been perfectly happy if I never had face to face contact with another human being ever again. I caught ME (Myalgic encephalomyelitis) at the very tail end of the 1990s and it left me with a target on my back for infections like COVID-19. And here we are again with a serious life threatening viral infection and the vector is passengers on a plague ship, - sorry, - I mean a cruise ship. When the Pandemic hit the world in 2020 I truly hoped that all of those damn ships would be towed away and scrapped because their capacity to spread diseases is absolutely spectacular. On those rare times i leave the house I'm wearing a mask, - a proper good quality one, - not a surgical mask and people stare at me like I've got three heads. You know, - because the lie that COVID-19 is over has been spread pretty darn thickly around by conservative governments and wealthy business owners. People can call me paranoid if they want, but I'd rather be called a germ nutter than than gasping my last breath in a hospital ward.