Will the Lessons Be Learned?

Greetings,

The world as I write is in the grip of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. There are very few countries which have not been impacted in some way by this virus, and the ones which have been impacted by the virus have been impacted heavily. Australia has been impacted quite heavily, "social distancing" measures have been introduced along with self-isolation and quarantining measures as well. We have already seen a panic-run on shops of some essentials, and as a result rationing put in place to prevent further occurrences of such panic-buying of these essentials.

Hygiene measures have been put in place to prevent the spread of the virus. Sick people have been told to stay at home, hence the self-isolation. People have also been told to wash their hands, and keep their hands away from their faces. The interesting thing is that these measures should be "common sense" things that people should be doing anyway.

Flu season is also upon us soon. It is most interesting that the same people who are being paranoid about COVID-19 and posting on social media about it are the same people who do not get the flu vaccination, and also the same people who often continue to go out in public when they are sick. If the current pandemic has taught us anything is that everyone who is able should get vaccinated, if possible, and sick people should stay at home so they do not infect others. Why?

The 1918 pandemic which killed 50,000,000 people was not some random virus. It was a strain of the influenza virus, or flu, H1N1 to be precise, also known as "Spanish Flu". What is ridiculous is that every year we have a new strain of the flu turn up. Every year it spreads around the world during winter months when we are at our most vulnerable. Scientists have been warning us for years about an upcoming pandemic of the same proportions, if not worse than 1918. Watch the Netflix series "Pandemic" and reconsider how you think about the flu.

The problem is that people look at the flu and because it is common and lots of people survive it, they don't worry about it. It is not the people who get sick and shrug it off which is the concern, it is the immune-suppressed and immune-vulnerable which you get vaccinated for. You get vaccinated so you do not pass it along to your friend who may be under treatment or may have a chronic condition.

If anything gets learnt from this pandemic, it should be the importance of people a) getting vaccinated because it is available; b) not going out when they are sick; and c) people paying attention to simple hygiene such as covering your mouth and nose when you sneeze or cough, and washing your hands regularly.  Do it for your elderly parents. Do it for your immune-suppressed friend. Do it for your friend with a chronic health condition. Do it for me. Just do it for yourself.

Hopefully the lessons will be learned and remembered and the flu will not have as much of an impact. Learn the lessons from COVID-19, apply them during flu season too. This is a personal responsibility thing, everyone can do their part. It starts with you.

Cheers,

Henry.

#washyourhands, #getvaccinated, #getafluvax