The World Health Organization declared on Wednesday, March 11, that the coronavirus is now officially a global pandemic. It was unknown just three months ago, and it's now rapidly spread to more than 121,000 people from Asia to the Middle East, Europe, and the US.
But two weeks ago, I knew very little about it. I'd seen news coverage of it, but it seemed far away and not a real threat. Well, that has changed for me and just about everybody I talk to.
It started becoming real for me at a Costco store.
I never thought I’d see paranoia enter Costco stores — until I realized all the water, toilet paper, and sanitized hand wipes, were missing. That’s been the case since about the beginning of March, at least for the water bottles. I know it from accepting Instacart shopping batches on my iPhone. The first time I noticed what was happening, it was quite strange to walk into that section of the store and see a lot of empty wood pallets. Not one single bottle of water was left at a Costco in Signal Hill, and then later at its Lakewood and Cypress stores. Talk among us shoppers about the coronavirus scare causing the water and TP buyout became common. Costco staff at first stayed out of it, but later joined into conversations at the checkout line. It had become a very big deal.
Fortunately, the disappearance of the water supply has not happened yet through any stampedes I’ve witnessed. I did see one morally bankrupt effect from this public health crisis. While looking for water bottles at a Smart & Final store in Long Beach, one of the 24-bottle packs of 16.9 ounce containers of a popular brand showed pricing was raised from about $4.50 for the pack, up to about $23. And there was only one of them left on the shelf.
But why do people need that much bottled water and toilet paper? Are they setting up something like the old 1950s fallout shelters in their backyards? Are they afraid that the coronavirus is infiltrating our water supply, and you can’t drink out of your faucet? Are they just trying to play it safe, assuming other people with hypochondria and paranoia are going to buy out the supply?
I have done my homework. I see that there is more concern about the health safety of buying food in a grocery store’s produce section, or going to the food court to make your salad, or other potentially vulnerable items you can buy in a supermarket that other people have been touching. The evidence isn’t clear on that one yet. The only advice I’ve seen consistently is to keep some distance from people showing signs of having a flu virus (watch out for coughing); wash your hands regularly; and avoid touching your own face. As for wearing a protective face mask, I’ve seen advice given to not do it; it could be worse than not wearing it.
What are the numbers? According to Worldometer, there have been 118,414 cases, 4,267 deaths, and 65,105 people who have recovered (as of 12:30 pm on March 10). Of course, China has the largest numbers with 80,787 cases, 3,153 deaths, and 60,115 recovered. No. 2 has been Italy (which is going through a chaotic lockdown now), with 11,126 cases, 799 deaths, and 1,004 people recovered. The US is farther down the list with, so far, 30 people who’ve died from it.
How accurate are these numbers? Worldometer is owned by Dadax, a software company in web technologies and applications that says it’s an independent company. Worldometer reports on data that comes from “an international team of developers, researchers, and volunteers with the goal of making world statistics available in a thought-provoking and time relevant format to a wide audience around the world.”
It’s still early, and there could be quite a few misdiagnosed cases out there, with researchers failing to include numbers from what they thought to be caused by other existing viruses. The world health community is still defining the virus and disease, and more testing needs to be done. There is concern it could be a more devastating virus for those who catch it than influenza, but it's really too early to tell.
As far as I can tell, I don’t have the coronavirus. Well, at least I don’t think so. I hope not.
Doctors and scientists are still trying to understand all of the disease symptoms and severity. Reported symptoms in coronavirus patients have varied from mild to severe, and can include fever, cough, and shortness of breath, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC says you should call your doctor if you develop symptoms, and have been in close contact with a person known to have COVID-19; or, you have recently traveled from an area with widespread or ongoing community spread of COVID-19.
By the way, confusion can set in over the official name of the virus. The World Health Organization cleared that up. The virus is identified as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2); and the disease has been identified as coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
More news is coming out on the origin of the virus in China and its rapid spread to other parts of the world; and why passengers are being contained and tested on cruise ships. So far, it’s not entirely known where it all started. Scientists are thinking the virus originated in wildlife and spread to humans in the city of Wuhan, China.
It’s wreaking havoc economically — from stock market and oil prices plunging to several companies reporting huge and unexpected losses. I’ve received dozens of emails from companies, governments, and other organizations on what they’re doing about coronavirus, and how you can protect yourself.
So much for the travel industry. I would expect that if you’re looking for cheap tickets on ocean cruises, now would be the time to buy. But you may be trapped on the Voyage of the Damned. Better to wait and see what happens next.
We may be seeing a wave of disinformation on where it all started. One conspiracy theory is that the virus was engineered in the lab by the Chinese government as a bioweapon. Another version says that the virus was being studied in the lab (after being isolated from animals) and then “escaped” or “leaked” because of poor safety protocol.
Whatever the cause, it appears that aging people are the most vulnerable for catching the virus and dying from it. More data will eventually come out of China, where most of these fatalities have been recorded; unless the government is covering it all up and its worse than what we’ve heard. But it could be a wide range of people who’ve been susceptible to it in China. However, people over age 60, and particularly those with pre-existing health conditions, appear to be most vulnerable to the virus.
But the coronavirus isn’t the only concern, with influenza having already taken a lot more lives. President Trump has been taking backlash from his comments that many more people have already died from common flu viruses in the US, and that coronavirus may not be as big of a deal. That seems to be true as far as the current coronavirus statistics go, but its still early in the process. Coronavirus appears to have started in December.
However that comparison is not taking away any of the fear — and terror — that the average person is going through right now about catching it, spreading it, dying from it, and losing loved ones.
It does have elements of watching the first season of the The Walking Dead, where survivors of the zombie pandemic traveled to the CDC headquarters in Atlanta to find a cure. You can also watch two films that stirred the pot over a disease wiping out the earth’s population — Outbreak from 1995 and Contagion from 2011. In Contagion, actress Gwyneth Paltrow plays a character who spreads the disease to Minnesota after returning from a business trip in Hong Kong. Directed by Steven Soderbergh (best known for Sex, Lies & Videotape and Ocean’s 11), the film did an excellent job of stirring up the paranoia and conspiracy theories that can be tied to a fast-spreading disease.
When I was a child, the movie with a similar theme that bothered me the most was The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston. I got to see the 1971 film on a movie night in an edited version on one of
the network channels (I think it was Channel 4, NBC’s local affiliate in Los Angeles). My mom was okay with me watching it. But I didn’t sleep too well that night.
The Omega Man was a film adaptation of Richard Matheson's novel, I Am Legend. An earlier version came out in 1964, The Last Man on Earth, and starred Vincent Price. Will Smith starred in a 2007 film, I Am Legend, which may been closest to the novel.
The Omega Man depicts that in 1975, a border conflict between China and the USSR (Russia) turned into worldwide biological warfare that wiped out most of the world’s population — with the unintended consequence of producing another lethal side effect. That side effect was that zombie-like humans had been sickened by the biowarfare virus; they were still alive but their past lives and identities had died.
Research scientist Col. Robert Neville, MD (Heston), injects himself with an experimental vaccine right after surviving a helicopter crash. He at first appears to be the very last human survivor of the bio-apocalypse. He becomes subjected to nightly attempts on his life by a group of zombies (virus-stricken, deformed, nocturnal people wearing sunglasses). Led by a former network news anchor, played by actor Anthony Zerbe, the creatures appear to be like religious zealots trying to burn the sinner at the stake. They blame science and technology for their condition, and they see Dr. Neville as being part of creating the crisis.
The filmmaker edited in previous incidents leading up the holocaust, where Zerbe becomes something like an evangelist on TV news warning of the ominous apocalypse. He later transforms into the charismatic leader of the zombies out to get Dr. Neville out of his posh luxury suite in a downtown LA high-rise.
Heston also played two of my other heroes from popular sci-fi movies of the day — Planet of the Apes and Soylent Green.
“Take your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape!” became one of my most memorable movie scenes ever; along with finding the half-buried Statue of Liberty on the beach at the end of Planet of the Apes. And of course, we all know why you shouldn’t be eating any of the Soylent Green.
So what did I learn from The Omega Man?
Hmm, maybe I will go buy some water bottles, toilet paper, and canned food. But where will I build my zombie shelter? And is there a loan you can get to build it?
But two weeks ago, I knew very little about it. I'd seen news coverage of it, but it seemed far away and not a real threat. Well, that has changed for me and just about everybody I talk to.
It started becoming real for me at a Costco store.
I never thought I’d see paranoia enter Costco stores — until I realized all the water, toilet paper, and sanitized hand wipes, were missing. That’s been the case since about the beginning of March, at least for the water bottles. I know it from accepting Instacart shopping batches on my iPhone. The first time I noticed what was happening, it was quite strange to walk into that section of the store and see a lot of empty wood pallets. Not one single bottle of water was left at a Costco in Signal Hill, and then later at its Lakewood and Cypress stores. Talk among us shoppers about the coronavirus scare causing the water and TP buyout became common. Costco staff at first stayed out of it, but later joined into conversations at the checkout line. It had become a very big deal.
Fortunately, the disappearance of the water supply has not happened yet through any stampedes I’ve witnessed. I did see one morally bankrupt effect from this public health crisis. While looking for water bottles at a Smart & Final store in Long Beach, one of the 24-bottle packs of 16.9 ounce containers of a popular brand showed pricing was raised from about $4.50 for the pack, up to about $23. And there was only one of them left on the shelf.But why do people need that much bottled water and toilet paper? Are they setting up something like the old 1950s fallout shelters in their backyards? Are they afraid that the coronavirus is infiltrating our water supply, and you can’t drink out of your faucet? Are they just trying to play it safe, assuming other people with hypochondria and paranoia are going to buy out the supply?
I have done my homework. I see that there is more concern about the health safety of buying food in a grocery store’s produce section, or going to the food court to make your salad, or other potentially vulnerable items you can buy in a supermarket that other people have been touching. The evidence isn’t clear on that one yet. The only advice I’ve seen consistently is to keep some distance from people showing signs of having a flu virus (watch out for coughing); wash your hands regularly; and avoid touching your own face. As for wearing a protective face mask, I’ve seen advice given to not do it; it could be worse than not wearing it.
What are the numbers? According to Worldometer, there have been 118,414 cases, 4,267 deaths, and 65,105 people who have recovered (as of 12:30 pm on March 10). Of course, China has the largest numbers with 80,787 cases, 3,153 deaths, and 60,115 recovered. No. 2 has been Italy (which is going through a chaotic lockdown now), with 11,126 cases, 799 deaths, and 1,004 people recovered. The US is farther down the list with, so far, 30 people who’ve died from it.
How accurate are these numbers? Worldometer is owned by Dadax, a software company in web technologies and applications that says it’s an independent company. Worldometer reports on data that comes from “an international team of developers, researchers, and volunteers with the goal of making world statistics available in a thought-provoking and time relevant format to a wide audience around the world.”
It’s still early, and there could be quite a few misdiagnosed cases out there, with researchers failing to include numbers from what they thought to be caused by other existing viruses. The world health community is still defining the virus and disease, and more testing needs to be done. There is concern it could be a more devastating virus for those who catch it than influenza, but it's really too early to tell.
As far as I can tell, I don’t have the coronavirus. Well, at least I don’t think so. I hope not.
Doctors and scientists are still trying to understand all of the disease symptoms and severity. Reported symptoms in coronavirus patients have varied from mild to severe, and can include fever, cough, and shortness of breath, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC says you should call your doctor if you develop symptoms, and have been in close contact with a person known to have COVID-19; or, you have recently traveled from an area with widespread or ongoing community spread of COVID-19.
By the way, confusion can set in over the official name of the virus. The World Health Organization cleared that up. The virus is identified as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2); and the disease has been identified as coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
More news is coming out on the origin of the virus in China and its rapid spread to other parts of the world; and why passengers are being contained and tested on cruise ships. So far, it’s not entirely known where it all started. Scientists are thinking the virus originated in wildlife and spread to humans in the city of Wuhan, China.
It’s wreaking havoc economically — from stock market and oil prices plunging to several companies reporting huge and unexpected losses. I’ve received dozens of emails from companies, governments, and other organizations on what they’re doing about coronavirus, and how you can protect yourself.
So much for the travel industry. I would expect that if you’re looking for cheap tickets on ocean cruises, now would be the time to buy. But you may be trapped on the Voyage of the Damned. Better to wait and see what happens next.
We may be seeing a wave of disinformation on where it all started. One conspiracy theory is that the virus was engineered in the lab by the Chinese government as a bioweapon. Another version says that the virus was being studied in the lab (after being isolated from animals) and then “escaped” or “leaked” because of poor safety protocol.
Whatever the cause, it appears that aging people are the most vulnerable for catching the virus and dying from it. More data will eventually come out of China, where most of these fatalities have been recorded; unless the government is covering it all up and its worse than what we’ve heard. But it could be a wide range of people who’ve been susceptible to it in China. However, people over age 60, and particularly those with pre-existing health conditions, appear to be most vulnerable to the virus.
But the coronavirus isn’t the only concern, with influenza having already taken a lot more lives. President Trump has been taking backlash from his comments that many more people have already died from common flu viruses in the US, and that coronavirus may not be as big of a deal. That seems to be true as far as the current coronavirus statistics go, but its still early in the process. Coronavirus appears to have started in December.
However that comparison is not taking away any of the fear — and terror — that the average person is going through right now about catching it, spreading it, dying from it, and losing loved ones.
It does have elements of watching the first season of the The Walking Dead, where survivors of the zombie pandemic traveled to the CDC headquarters in Atlanta to find a cure. You can also watch two films that stirred the pot over a disease wiping out the earth’s population — Outbreak from 1995 and Contagion from 2011. In Contagion, actress Gwyneth Paltrow plays a character who spreads the disease to Minnesota after returning from a business trip in Hong Kong. Directed by Steven Soderbergh (best known for Sex, Lies & Videotape and Ocean’s 11), the film did an excellent job of stirring up the paranoia and conspiracy theories that can be tied to a fast-spreading disease.
When I was a child, the movie with a similar theme that bothered me the most was The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston. I got to see the 1971 film on a movie night in an edited version on one of
the network channels (I think it was Channel 4, NBC’s local affiliate in Los Angeles). My mom was okay with me watching it. But I didn’t sleep too well that night.
The Omega Man was a film adaptation of Richard Matheson's novel, I Am Legend. An earlier version came out in 1964, The Last Man on Earth, and starred Vincent Price. Will Smith starred in a 2007 film, I Am Legend, which may been closest to the novel.
The Omega Man depicts that in 1975, a border conflict between China and the USSR (Russia) turned into worldwide biological warfare that wiped out most of the world’s population — with the unintended consequence of producing another lethal side effect. That side effect was that zombie-like humans had been sickened by the biowarfare virus; they were still alive but their past lives and identities had died.Research scientist Col. Robert Neville, MD (Heston), injects himself with an experimental vaccine right after surviving a helicopter crash. He at first appears to be the very last human survivor of the bio-apocalypse. He becomes subjected to nightly attempts on his life by a group of zombies (virus-stricken, deformed, nocturnal people wearing sunglasses). Led by a former network news anchor, played by actor Anthony Zerbe, the creatures appear to be like religious zealots trying to burn the sinner at the stake. They blame science and technology for their condition, and they see Dr. Neville as being part of creating the crisis.
The filmmaker edited in previous incidents leading up the holocaust, where Zerbe becomes something like an evangelist on TV news warning of the ominous apocalypse. He later transforms into the charismatic leader of the zombies out to get Dr. Neville out of his posh luxury suite in a downtown LA high-rise.
Heston also played two of my other heroes from popular sci-fi movies of the day — Planet of the Apes and Soylent Green.
“Take your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape!” became one of my most memorable movie scenes ever; along with finding the half-buried Statue of Liberty on the beach at the end of Planet of the Apes. And of course, we all know why you shouldn’t be eating any of the Soylent Green.
So what did I learn from The Omega Man?
- Always be ready for the worst-case scenario.
- Just because you’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you. (A good saying from the ‘70s).
- Scientists can potentially create something far worse than anything they could have imagined.
- A very popular theme from The Omega Man, The Walking Dead, and all of the zombie movies: You may be losing loved ones at the blink of an eye.
- Watch out for the zombies out there. They might be coming after you now for their next meal!
Hmm, maybe I will go buy some water bottles, toilet paper, and canned food. But where will I build my zombie shelter? And is there a loan you can get to build it?
Comments
Post a Comment