An ER doctor made this video for his friends. It's long so I have paraphrased (and inclusived a few phrases) their remarks about what "we" (humans) have learned:
You get Covid19 from sustained unprotected physical contact (15-30 minutes) with someone who has this disease, or someone who is about to get the disease in the next day or two. (People start shedding the disease 1 or 2 days before they get the first symptom, which is fever.)
This virus moves almost exclusively from your hands to your face. (Eyes, nose, mouth.) Aerosolized transmission exists but is rare.
The new rules are two new habits plus a recommendation (and these numbered steps are paraphrases):
1. Know where your hands are and know that they are clean at all times. When you leave the house, use hand sanitizer after touching elevator doors or bump the buttons with your elbow. Don't shake hands with or otherwise touch other people. When you get home, wash again more thoroughly. Just keep your hands really clean.
2. Work on breaking the habit of touching your face. Wearing a mask (bandanna) won't stop transmission but it does remind us not to touch our faces. Consider wearing one when you leave the house.
This doesn't have to be a medical mask, since it's not protecting you from the virus, it's protecting you from touching your face before you've had a chance to wash your hands.
[Anna Slusser is making lovely ones and we have ordered some. I was going to just use my aqua bandanna, Go Air Raid!, but these would stay on better.]
These two steps would prevent 99% of transmission and allow people to keep their living groups safe. Then we can ...
3. Distance ourselves; stand a couple of feet away from people. Temporarily shrink our social circles. Each of us can determine our isolation group, set boundaries.
The person at the store is not your enemy, they're someone who is going through this with you. The delivery person is not your enemy, they're a hero. The mail carrier is a hero.
When we understand this disease, then it allows us to be able to go get (or accept delivery of) food while protecting ourselves and the people we're living with.
(Also in the video: how to tell whether you have the disease; if you do get a cold just follow the rules as if you have Covid19, to see whether it will develop into Covid19, and come to a hospital if you feel short of breath. If you've been exposed, after 2-4 days, if you don't start getting the symptoms, you're in the clear until the next challenge.)
Going to a hospital is not a death sentence. If you have a fever use Tylenol not ibuprofen.
Just a different way of interacting. "Learn the rules." As soon as we learn the rules it's empowering and then we can start living our life under the new normal.
It's courteous to keep a diary of who you interact with. If you come down with Covid19 then you can tell everyone you've met with in the past 1-2 days, and they can follow the new rules too.
Apologies to the doctor themself for the paraphrases. I realize most people don't have time to watch an hour's worth of video right now, but this seemed helpful to me. I am going to learn and implement these new rules so I can get back to politics.
Bonus TED links:
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