Logical Reasons, Why You Don’t Need to Panic with Coronavirus
Panic spreads faster than corona virus.
Every time we turn on the TV, check out news on social media, or listen to the radio while driving to work, we will hear people talk about coronavirus and how it has spread more and more all over the country. It has caused panic all around the world. Cities are in lock down. Stock markets have tumbled. As a result, panic buying or fear based shopping phenomena occur. Supermarkets are full, health masks run out, hand sanitizer stock is empty.
It does not stop there. People also seemed in a hurry to buy groceries for supplies at home. The excuse is, just in case the situation becomes more urgent. This panic attack also resulted in the scarcity of goods in grocery stores and even pharmacies. Coronavirus is unsettling, but it’s good not to overreact to this one outbreak. The hysteria is far more dangerous compared to the virus itself.
If you are one of those people who are easily afraid and panic, try to sit down for a moment and calm down. Shouldn’t you think and ask yourself, “what have I done to protect myself and my family from getting sick?”
What is coronavirus?
According to World Health Organization, coronaviruses (CoV) that is also known as COVID-19 are part of a large group of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. The outbreak was first discovered in Wuhan, China in December 2019.
Coronaviruses are classified as zoonotic which means that they are transmitted between animals and people only.
The common signs that are found in patients who got infected by this virus include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and difficulties to breath. For more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.
Coronavirus Myth Buster
Here are some coronavirus (COVID-19) advice to public:
1. Coronavirus CANNOT be killed by cold weather and snow.
Cold temperature cannot kill this novel virus. It is suggested not to believe that temperature whether it is super cold or super hot can kill COVID-19.
2. Coronavirus CANNOT be killed by taking a hot shower.
Again, temperature cannot kill this virus. Our normal body temperature remains around 36.5°C to 37°C (97.7°F to 98.6°F), regardless of the temperature of your bath or shower. Taking a very hot bath or shower is actually harmful because it can burn our skin. The effective way to protect ourselves from getting sick is to wash our hands with soap.
3. COVID-19 cannot be transmitted through goods delivered from China
Coronavirus may remain on surfaces from few hours up to several days, it is doubtful that the virus will stay on a surface after going through all the delivery process from packing, moving, traveling in different conditions and temperature. If you are worried that a package may be contaminated, use a disinfectant to clean it. You can simply clean your hands with hand sanitizer or wash your hands with soap after touching the package or mail.
4. Can coronavirus be transmitted through mosquito bites? The answer is NO.
There is no evidence found anywhere that this virus can be transmitted through mosquito bites. I know Spring is coming, some people are worried about mosquitoes, but remember that this virus can be transmitted through being exposed of droplets of saliva or discharge of the nose from an infected person who cough or sneeze.
5. Hand dryers cannot kill the coronavirus.
After cleaning our hands with alcohol based hand rub (hand sanitizer) or wash our hands with soap, we should dry our hands thoroughly by using paper towels or a warm air dryer.
6. Ultraviolet disinfection lamp cannot kill COVID019
It is advised not to use the UV lamps to strerilize our hands or other areas of skin in order to avoid UV radiation that can cause skin irritation.
7. Can thermal scanners detect people who are infected? No
It is true that thermal scanners are good in detecting people who have a fever because of infection with the novel coronavirus. However, they actually cannot detect people who are infected but do not show any sickness and have not fever yet. Why? It’s because the incubation time takes about two to ten days before we know someone who are infected with the virus become sick and develop a fever.
8. Spraying alcohol or chlorine all over our body cannot kill the novel coronavirus
If someone is already got infected with the virus, spraying alcohol pr chlorine will not help at all. Such substance is actually harmful to clothes, our eyes, mouth and nose. Remember, both alcohol and chlorine can be useful to clean and disinfectant surfaces, but they are supposed to be used carefully under appropriate recommendations (check out the usage information on the bottle).
9. Pets cannot spread the novel coronavirus
Up until now, there is no evidence that pets such as cats or dogs can be infected with the novel coronavirus. But again, it is important to always wash our hands with water and soap after touching them. By washing our hands, we protect ourselves from various common bacteria and germs such as E.coli and Salmonella that may pass between humans and pets.
10. Pneumonia vaccines cannot protect you against the novel coronavirus
This is a new virus and different virus, the already found vaccines such as pneumonia vaccines cannot protect us from the novel coronavirus.
Researchers all over the world are still working hard to develop a vaccine against 2019-nCoV.
11. Rinsing our nose with saline cannot help prevent infection with this new virus
No evidence has been found up until nowadays showing that regularly rinsing our nose with saline can protect people from being infected by this novel virus.
People may recover quickly from common cold but not if they are infected by coronavirus. However, regularly rinsing the nose has not been shown to prevent respiratory infections.
12. Eating Garlic cannot prevent infection with this novel coronavirus
Garlic is known as a healthy food that has some antimicrobial properties but there is no evidence that eating this food can protect people from the new coronavirus.
13. Coronavirus is only dangerous to older people. Nope. Wrong!!
Nobody is immune to this virus. No matter what group of age it is. Young, old, and people with asthma, diabetes, heart disease can be vulnerable to becoming very ill if they got infected with the virus.
People of all ages can keep the numbers of people getting sick and protecting ourselves from the virus by following good hand hygiene and good respiratory hygiene.
14. Antibiotics are not effective to prevent and treat the novel coronavirus
Antibiotics will only work against bacteria, not against viruses especially this new virus.
Don’t stressed out and panic yet!
It’s a virus, not a plague!
According to a study conducted by Journal of Hospital Infection, strains of coronavirus can stay on metal, glass and plastic surfaces for up to nine days. Don’t stressed out and panic yet, because those strains of virus can be efficiently inactivated by doing disinfection. Basically, we need to wipe and clean the surface in our home or work with 62–71% ethanol, 0.5% hydrogen peroxide or 0.1% sodium hypochlorite within 1 minute multiple times a day. Virus or not, we should be doing this anyway.
If you know you will get mails or packages, you do not have to worry about touching it. Just receive it and open it like you normally do. World Health Organization states that the virus cannot survive for long periods of time on stuff like letters or packages.
What are the logical reasons why we don’t need to panic?
There are a number of reasons why we don’t need to panic because of the corona virus. Come, see the following!
1. Cases that are exposed to the most cases are dead or severe first
“You often hear about the worst cases, which are very severe, those in hospitals, and those who are dying. But that doesn’t reflect what the virus does to the majority of people, “said Dr. Amesh A. Adalja from the John Hopkins Center for Health Security to Aljazeera.
Do you agree with the statement above? It is true that the most exposed cases from the beginning to the present are very severe. Or even dead cases.
In addition to patients, local and international media also often expose the sad stories of victims of the coronavirus. This is also the reason why people are afraid and panicked.
2. The number of mild cases reaches 83 percent of the total
Continuing the previous point, cases that are often heralded are indeed severe cases and people who have died from COVID-19. But did you know that this coronavirus is actually a flu virus that causes more mild cases?
Let’s look at the statistics! According to real time data from Worldometers (4/3), the number of mild cases of the coronavirus has now reached 83 percent of the total. While the percentage of severe cases is only 17 percent. This means that the condition of the patients we see in the news does not represent all the coronavirus cases that exist.
3. The number of patients who recover 16 times the number of patients who died
The number of infected and dead victims of the coronavirus is updated daily. But what about the number of people who recover from this disease? Very rarely disseminated, right?
Though in fact, the number of people dying and recovering from the coronavirus is quite lame. As of Wednesday (4/3), it was noted that corona virus fatalities reached more than 3,000 people. While the number of people recovering has reached more than 50 thousand people. Really far comparison.
Even Tuesday (3/3), Vietnam announced that 16 coronavirus patients in their country had recovered completely. See, the number of people who recover is higher compared to the people who died, right? Still want to panic?
4. Increasing the number of cases is not something to be feared of
Who does not cringe when presented with the number of coronavirus cases in the world? Anyone would be afraid to see such a large number. Even as of Wednesday (4/3), the number of infected people has reached 90 thousand. But behind that number, there is a good sign for the survival of the corona virus. Don’t panic yet. Look at this stat from John Hopkins Medicine.
COVID-19: As of March 5, 2020, there were about 97,900 cases worldwide; 209 cases in the U.S.
Flu: Estimated 1 billion cases worldwide; 9.3 million to 45 million cases in the U.S. per year.
“Along with the increase in knowledge about this virus, the number of cases will indeed continue to rise, but the level of fatality will decrease if we all have prepared ourselves well,” explained Dr. Adalja to AlJazeera.
5. Infected patients can recover even if there is no vaccine
One of the things that makes us panic because the coronavirus is not yet found an antidote vaccine. But again, this is not something that should scare you too much. The proof, more patients are recovering than those who died, right?
Then how can they recover if there is no vaccine? It turns out that our own immune system must be strengthened to prevent complications of COVID-19 in the body. As long as the symptoms are relieved and the body is getting stronger, the virus will die.
We fight virus every year: influenza or flu. Flu has killed thousands of people, so why are we suddenly panicking and overreacting over this new virus?
6. Medical and state experts have made various efforts for the corona virus
According to a report from AlJazeera, researchers are moving very quickly to quickly find a suitable vaccine. It will indeed take a long time because they actually made the vaccine from scratch.
Not only that, every country also takes a number of preventive measures to inhibit the growth of the coronavirus. Including in our country. The government has promised a thermo scanner at the airports, hospitals with WHO standard isolation rooms, to a crisis center for COVID-19.
Bottom Line
It is recommended for us all to stay alert and take measures to prevent the virus to spread more but we don’t have to panic and afraid. Instead, we better apply the steps below:
- Always keep up to date with information about coronavirus;
- Don’t be easily influenced by bad news especially those that seems to exaggerate;
- Try to calm down and look for articles or news on progress regarding patients who are cured, vaccines, etc;
- We must verify information before trusting it and pass it on to others. During this time of panic, there was a lot of hoaxes and false news circulating around;
- Always apply a healthy lifestyle, keep surfaces at home and work clean, carry hand sanitizer if you go out, and wash your hands with soap regularly.
When facing a dangerous virus as it is today, we should not underestimate or exaggerate. The most important thing is to always be alert and protect yourself. There’s no need to panic anymore!
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
Thank you!
I keep saying the same things to the people around me.
Is it REALLY necessary to go and buy 20 hand sanitizers? Or 10 packs of 16 rolls of toilet paper?
I don’t remember such a frenzy for viruses we had in the past even though the numbers seemed to be higher. Am I missing something? I am not dismissing the importance but compared to past outbreaks, I fail to understand…
Thank you for this enlightening and well-documented article that more people should read!
Thanks,
Flo
Hi Flo,
Thank you so much for taking time visit this blog and read the post. I think it is important for people to stay calm and concentrate their energy and efforts more on protecting themselves, family and friends from getting sick by simply paying attention to the basic hygiene techniques. Hoarding stuff in our house is not the best way in handling this.
Regarding the number outbreaks for MERS based the data on WHO website, there were 866 deaths recorded until April 2012 but there’s only 27 countries reported cases globally. Coronavirus has spread more than that but today I spoke to one of my Chinese students (I’m also an online English tutor), the numbers of people who recovered from this virus infection have increased. She said even one old man who is 103 years old recovered. Also, a 3 month old baby got discharged from the hospital as well (the baby got the virus from her Dad). Based on the info on this link https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/amid-growing-coronavirus-cases-another-number-increasing-recoveries-n1148126, there are at least 15 people with confirmed coronavirus infections in the United States are said to have made full recoveries.
It really is scary when we think how deadly a virus can be, but there’s still hope it can be stopped and researchers find the vaccines soon.
Once again thank you for your comment. Please share this post to your family and friends so there will be more people to be informed not to panic. Thank you so much!
Best wishes,
Ferra
I think we are overacting a bit. And it’s true every time there seems to be a crisis be go crazy and clear the shelves of local grocers. I know that milk and bread especially fly off the selves where I live. Although, I think is also true to stay update on the situation and take preventive measures like you shared in this post.
It’s part of us humans where we’ll feel scared of the unknown. The fact that there is no vaccines or medicines yet to fight this novel virus makes people scared. Fear based shopping is a real phenomenon and news sometimes can make it worst. I hope people can be smarter in filtering the news they see and hear every day. Also, we are supposed to start the efforts of preventing the virus from spreading starting from ourselves and our home.
Hi Ferrawanti,
Thanks for the detailed post, Coronavirus seems ridiculously scary, but there also seems to be an awful lot more accessible media coverage then I have ever experienced before for something like this. The various countries closing borders, stopping flights and quarantining citizens also seems to be driving fear.
I’m happy that you’ve confirmed that I’m doing all I can by making extra sure to wash my hands properly and cleaning all surfaces that I come in contact with. Thinking about it though, I remember my mother telling me to wash my hands after handling money, so are we better off using contactless technology to avoid touching money? It seems much easier to sanitize my phone and contactless card a few times a day!
Thanks,
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
Thank you for taking time to visit my page and read my post. I really appreciate your comment.
Come to think of it, yes, you’re right. Money circulates around everyday, from one hand to the next hand, purse, wallet, etc. It is difficult to disinfect money, especially the paper one. I think we just have to make sure we clean our hands with hand sanitizer or better, wash them with soap after we touch money.
Once again, thank you, take care and have a nice day!
Cheers,
Ferra
Documents from 2016 show that the Wuhan Institute of Virology, an organization increasingly suspected of being associated with a coronavirus outbreak, has been studying the virus in recent years. This is because increasing evidence suggests that the disease did not originate in the seafood market, as claimed by the Chinese government.
If the unconfirmed reports are true, this would not be the first time that a deadly disease has ‘escaped’ from a Chinese research institute. In March 2004, nine people became infected after the deadly SARS virus ‘escaped’ from the National Institute of Virology in Beijing, China. The current outbreak of coronaviruses may have similar origins.
Hi Kozakiv,
Thank you for taking time to visit my site and read the post. I really appreciate it.
Yeah, you could be right but until today there is no evidence stating that this virus has escaped from a Chinese research institute. It is a legit theory though. The theory has evolved into a rumor claimed that the virus was genetically engineered to be a bioweapon. But scientists say that while there’s not enough information to pinpoint where the virus came from, there is no evidence that it was created in a lab.
Once again thank you. Have a blessed week. Stay safe.
Cheers,
Ferra
Hi there, thanks for the information and key points of Coronavirus. I heard that the virus couldn’t survive over 26° but as you said our body temperature is 35/36°, so that doesn’t make any sense.
Do you know if the virus can be transmitted through money? Because I have a store and I deal with money all the time and I really can’t wash my hands every 1 minute. So I don’t know what to do.
Hope somebody can find the cure to this coronavirus thing and we get back to normal.
Hi Kevin,
Thank you for taking time to visit my site and read my post. I really appreciate it!
According to public health experts, they believe that the viruses can stay on surfaces in their fully active states for at least 10 days. That includes cash and all kinds of other surfaces that people normally touch.
But the Fed and other institutions and businesses appear to be responding to the likelihood that individuals can become infected if they touch contaminated cash.
The World Health Organization states that “It is good hygiene practice to wash your hands after handling money, especially if eating or handling food,” WHO said in a statement, while emphasizing that it “did not say cash was transmitting coronavirus.”
I know it is not practical to wash our hands every minute after we handling money, but to be safe we could just use hand sanitizer and try not to touch our face. But if we want to eat, we definitely should wash our hands afterwards.
Thank you. Have a blessed week. Stay safe.
Cheers,
Ferra
This has restores so much calm for me to the extent that I have to share it to all my friends and family. The spread of the virus has caused such a scare to the extent that I feel like there is nothing else to do than to agree solely to staying at home. This is a sensitizer and an informative post. Thanks so much for sharing this
Hi Rodarrick,
Thank you so much for taking time to visit my website and read my post. I hope it can help in reducing the hysteria happening all over the country in the U.S. due to the state of emergency of coronavirus. I would really appreciate it if you could share it to your family and friends. I think we should focus our energy and efforts more on preventing the spread of the virus itself. If we want to minimize our risk of infection and also enhance our overall health, we should just practice basic personal hygiene habits. What do you think?
Thank you. Have a blessed week. Stay safe.
Cheers,
Ferra
Hey,
Great content you have chosen in these time we are passing. I think Corona virus is a alarming issue in whole world nowadays. Your points are so logical I don’t why people getting panic attack rather than they are taking proper action. Like in our country when found a person if Corona virus, whole nation got panic to buy mask and hand sanitizer! Within few hours all shops are empty these products are out of stocks then what’s the point if you cannot understand the real situation! I don’t know their mind. But, I really appreciate your efforts for this article I’ll share it with my friends and family. Thanks.
Hello there,
Thank you for taking time to visit my site and read the post. I really appreciate it.
Yes, you’re right. It is important to understand the real situation. I also think that we should focus our energy and efforts more on preventing the disease to spread more. If we want to minimize our risk of infection and also enhance our overall health, we should just follow basic personal hygiene habits such as bathe regularly, wash our hands with soap, have enough rest, drink enough water, etc.What do you think?
Yes, please! Sharing this info to our family and friends is good because we want to make sure this panic madness stop. It seems like it’s getting out of hands.
Thank you. Have a blessed week. Stay safe.
Ferra
Hi,
This is a very authentic post that you shared with us. In this post, you discuss covid 19. Really covid19 is really an alarming disease that spread out in the world recently. In this post, you said that we don’t need to panic with coronavirus at all. In this article, you disclose all the important things about covid19 and how we get rid of it. I agree with you. We do not need to panic with coronavirus if we take a proper step which you discuss. We have a clean hand continuously and make sure all the surfaces and cloth also be cleaned. I hope We can protect myself by practicing all the things which you discuss. This is a very important article. So I like to share this article with other people for their consciousness.
Thanks again for such a helpful post.
Hello Taufique,
Thank you for taking time to visit my site and read the post. I really appreciate it!
Yes, you’re right. We should focus more on practicing the proper steps to clean our hands and surfaces around our house and office in order to prevent the spread of the virus. Protecting ourselves, our family and friends is more important than buying too many hand sanitizer, toilet paper, etc. Hoarding all those stuff won’t guarantee our protection.
Once again thank you. It would be great to share this info to family and friends since sharing is caring. 🙂
Have a blessed week. Stay safe!
Ferra
I agree that it’s good not to overreact with the coronavirus. Panic is counterproductive and hysteria can be more dangerous than the virus itself. Hopefully people will not hoard items in order to make a profit on them, but unfortunately that seems to be occurring. Great background information on coronavirus. I think the main reason for panic is not knowing, and it all start with being educated and not ignorant to the facts. This is a great post that will add confidence and I will be sure to share it with family and friends. Well done!
Hello there,
Thank you for taking time to visit my site and read the post. I really appreciate it!
Yes, you’re right. It is important to know more about the virus itself and understand what the real situation is. Being overreact and hoarding stuff won’t help in protecting us against the virus. We should focus more on practicing the proper steps to clean our hands and surfaces around our house and office in order to prevent the spread of the virus. Protecting ourselves, our family and friends is more important than hoarding hand sanitizer, toilet paper, etc.
Once again thank you for your comment. It would be great to share this info to family and friends since sharing is caring. 🙂
Have a blessed week. Stay safe!
Ferra
This article is really for everyone. Thank you so much for sharing this great article with everyone.Your post freed me a little. My family is worried because the grocery store did not find the necessary items yesterday. This reason my family and the general public are worried.The steps in your post are very effective. I think we should follow these steps without being concerned. We should be aware of ourselves.I think others should read this informative post. So I will share the post through social media. Others will also be aware.
Hello there,
Thank you for taking time to visit my site and read the post. I really appreciate it!
Yes, the same thing happened here in Arizona. It was such a weekend madness. Stores are empty. Many essentials are out of stock. The state of emergency announcement made everything worst. They should inform people not to panic and educate them more what the real situation is and how to prevent the disease from spreading. I know schools are closed til April. Offices start considering the possibility for the employees to work from home. But the hysteria is much worst. Some people hoarding the stuff and resell it for profit. I read an article on The New York Times yesterday about a man who has over 17K hand sanitizer. He tried to sell it online through Amazon, eBay, etc. Luckily Amazon has taking measures.They cracked down on coronavirus price gouging. I hope this kind of madness will come to an end soon.
Once again thank you for your comment. It would be great to share this info to family and friends since sharing is caring. 🙂
Have a blessed week. Stay safe!
Ferra
Finally. Thank you for this article. I hope many get to read it, so that their unjustified fears can be laid to rest. I shall certainly be sharing it. Let’s be honest, it’s a fact that bad news sells. The media couldn’t wait for the statistics to reach a certain point, so they could start using the word ‘pandemic’ because it sounds much more ‘newsworthy’. ‘Flu’ is a more devastating illness, yet we rarely hear all of the facts and figures pertaining to that. Probably because it’s not going to increase circulation through the media outlets.
The panic buying just plain baffles me. If everyone stuck to their normal quantities, there would be no shortages. I went to our local supermarket yesterday, which is a big one, some of the aisles were empty. This morning there were dozen of people leaving one of the shops I drove past, weighed down with toilet rolls. Unbelievable.
Hello there,
Thank you for taking time to visit my site and read the post. I really appreciate it!
Yes. The same thing happened here in Arizona yesterday. It really was a weekend madness. People are overreacting. The hysteria scares me the most. Stores were full of people. Many essentials are out of stock. Not only in big stores but also small Asian stores I always go to. We usually can see tons of rice stacking up in front of the store, but yesterday it was empty. Unbelievable! Luckily my husband got me a big bag of rice last week. We should be good for few weeks.
Thank you so much for your comment. Yeah, sharing is caring. People should know more the real situation is and focus their energy and efforts more on preventing the virus from spreading.
Have a blessed week! Stay safe!
Ferra