What my mind keeps halting momentarily
upon is the current COVID-19 pandemic.
The total tragedy that has befallen mankind these past few months. And now, at least in the United States, it
seems that the crisis has taken a turn for the worse.
This issue has divided people in so many
ways that it seems that subjects have been sorted out to basically you are “on
this side” or “you are against it”! Just
consider the following as a small example of what I am talking about.
Masks. According to an article posted on www.ucsf.edu (June 26, 2020) “Both the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization now recommend
cloth masks for the general public, but earlier in the pandemic, both
organizations recommended just the opposite. These shifting guidelines may have
sowed confusion among the public about the utility of masks.”
That article went on to comment: “What may have finally convinced the CDC to change its guidance in favor of masks were rising disease prevalence and a clearer understanding that both pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic transmission are possible – even common. Studies have found that viral load peaks in the days before symptoms begin and that speaking is enough to expel virus-carrying droplets.”
“I think the biggest thing with COVID now that shapes all of this guidance on masks is that we can’t tell who’s infected,” said (Dr.) Chin-Hong (UC San Francisco infectious disease specialist). “You can’t look in a crowd and say, oh, that person should wear mask. There’s a lot of asymptomatic infection, so everybody has to wear a mask.””
A large majority
of states now have made wearing masks in public places mandatory. However, how
are these requirements going to be monitored?
It will be practically impossible to do so. The simple truth is that you can not
legislate morality. Those individuals who
have made a decision that they want to provide some possible protection to those
around them in public will wear a mask simply because they have been asked to
do so. Those who, in fact, don’t care
about themselves or others will not!
Social
Distancing. In discussing this topic
consider the following information from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/social-distancing.html:
“COVID-19 spreads mainly among people who are in
close contact (within about 6 feet) for a prolonged period. Spread happens when
an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks, and droplets from their mouth or
nose are launched into the air and land in the mouths or noses of people
nearby. The droplets can also be inhaled into the lungs. Recent studies
indicate that people who are infected but do not have symptoms likely also play
a role in the spread of COVID-19. Since people can spread the virus before they
know they are sick, it is important to stay at least 6 feet away from others
when possible, even if you—or they—do not have any symptoms. Social distancing
is especially important for people who are at higher risk for
severe illness from COVID-19.”
This simple action of being considerate of
the space of others to help prevent, or at least, reduce the risk of spreading
the disease seems to put some people into a tailspin. “You can’t tell me what to do!” “I have rights!” Day after day you see images from various
locations where people (particularly young people) are gathering together in
very large numbers. Some have even
commented that they are not worried about getting the disease. Yet where is their compassion for others who
may contract the disease from them?
Then you have the debates going on about
store openings or closings, arising now is the discussion about sending kids
back to school, or allowing events of one type or another to take place. And all the while more people are getting
sick and dying!
I guess I should also mention that there
is a third group that falls within this discussion. That is the group who has decided that if we
simple stop testing, stop doing research, and simply ignore the situation, it
will go away on its own! This group
would require a completely different discussion than I am prepared to debate here.
The plain truth is that for the most part
we are a large group of selfish, self-centered, insignificant silicon-based
life forms that think more of ourselves than is necessary and feel that we have
to demand our rights in order to show that we are important. The basic problem is this: we’re only
human!
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