I'm no medical expert so I won't claim to know how the virus spreads or its incubation period. I won't claim to know what asymptomatic means - I've asked my doctor friends but I still don't get how people know something is wrong when they're asymptomatic. But the point is in the absence of personal knowledge of these things, I go with what the experts say on the issue.
A vast majority of posts on my Facebook feed about the corona virus are either people saying we're not doing enough or news outlets publishing stories that incite fear in their readers. As I'm writing this, the Inquirer posted a news article about Chinese Tourists visiting Boracay despite the travel ban from China. (see link to article below)
It's these types of news articles that try to sow fear where it's not warranted. Remember that the travel ban only took effect just last February 2 meaning it's quite possible that Chinese tourists that arrived before date are still in the country to this day. The article would've served the people better if it was said definitively that these Chinese tourists arrived AFTER the ban was imposed. The article is silent on the matter and I can only assume that due diligence was not exercised to check this fact.
So should we just relax and wait for everything to resolve itself? Of course not. At least that's not what the experts are saying. Track the progress of the virus. Inform yourself of the confirmed cases. Wash your hands often especially after touching surfaces. Bring around alcohol as that too can kill the virus before it can spread to other people.
Clickbait-y headlines are everywhere. They want to bloat the numbers are much as they can to get more clicks and thus become more relevant. Another recent article I saw stressed how many people were suspected to be infected with virus there were in the Philippines. While it's true that there are people under investigation, (PUIs) they are nowhere near being a confirmed case. So far, in the Philippines, we have 3 confirmed cases but way way more PUIs who where later cleared.
The Corona virus is new and there is reason for us to be wary. But to spread fear and misinformation or to constantly complain all the time - these will not fix anything. We are always served by truth even when they're inconvenient or against our own personal beliefs.
And from the best data we have so far, this corona virus is NOT as deadly as the media has painted it out to be. People are more justified in being more fearful of dengue and tuberculosis. The current mortality rate is at around 2% which (from my understanding) means that 98% of the time, you will recover from it.
From what I notice, the most panicked people online are the keyboard activists. Doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals approach this issue more calmly. Let's take a page from their book and be more calm. Let's pray for the end of this episode. We can also do our part by doing all the precautions recommended by the DOH.
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