Coronavirus Has Changed Our World

Our world has changed in every way with the coronavirus. The freedoms we have enjoyed and taken for granted are on hold. Streets are empty, people are confined to home, luxury stores are boarded up and people are lonely and going stir crazy. And today, April 1, the rent and mortgage are due.

Students have lost a semester and successful businesses, from small to corporate structures, have halted. Calendar year 2020 is shot, though maybe we might see some rebound in the fourth quarter as we celebrate the holidays.

The most successful way to treat the virus is through distance and a lack of contact. We are told not to gather more than 10 at a time. Mayor Lori Lightfoot wisely closed our beautiful lakefront and shut down public places to insure safety.

She and Illinois Gov. JB Pritizker have risen to the crisis occasion with firm and no non-sense postures. National politics has been wiped off the news. There are no more debates. The behind the scenes talk is whether we will have an election in November. Will it be postponed or will it be mail in only?

Meanwhile, Trump has climbed in the national political polls. And in a very interesting way, we have all become equal. If Prince Charles and United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the First Lady of Canada, Sophie Trudeau, can test positive for coronavirus, no one anywhere is safe, given layers of security and safety, they are all now confined.

Churches services, theater and concerts have vanished. The entertainment community suffers greatly as artists sit in their living rooms and on their porches conducting one-man concerts over Facebook. Some industries are more affected than others. There will probably be no festivals this year. Trump has already expanded the shut down extension until the end of April at least.

The face of TV has changed. Late-night TV now comes from the host’s home. So, we get a peek into living rooms, studies, kitchens, and meet children and the pets of those we view often in studio with an audience.

There are no sports being played; even Wimbledon has been cancelled. The Olympics of 2020 will be held in 2021; athletes are so affected. The depressing part of the new world order are funerals, where only 10 people at a time can attend. This is so unfair to families and their loved ones. But this is a time for safety and all gatherings count, even funerals.

Healthcare Heroes

McCormick Place is being repurposed and its open spaces are being prepared to become a mega hospital, as will the United Center, which is already a staging area and storage facility for things related to the virus. That’s making room for thousands of hospital beds. New York’s Central Park now hosts an army tent hospital to accommodate the illness and a Navy ship hospital sits in the Hudson.

The primary guideline is to stay in. Why stay in? Here’s why: The average person who has the flu possibly will affect 28.5 people. The person with coronavirus stands to affect 58,000 people (you read that correctly). That’s a big spread and why a lack of contact makes sense.

The heroes of the world are the medical community, those who are on the front line with patients as they fight the disease. The doctors, the nurses, and the support staff, including the janitors who clean the medical facilities. Medical teams everywhere are amazing as they absolutely put themselves in danger doing their jobs, even while standing the chance of affecting their very own families.

Some of the doctors and nurses have died already. Masks and gloves are critically lacking. Washing your hands multiple times in the day is quite necessary and Lysol is your new best friend. Medical people are needed so drastically that the governor has requested many to come out of retirement and return to work.

Our economy is going to take a real dive. I am worried about small businesses, although there is a treasury plan that will allow business loans that might turn into grants. I still worry. I worry about the independents like the barber, the beautician, the uber driver, the giggers, the freelancers. How do they fair?

Plight Of The Elderly

We may have a depression like we have never seen before. The Greater Depression of 2020 threatens The Great Depression. The other heroes of the day are the truckers, the stock boys, the grocers and the restaurants that have figured carry outs. Harold’s got it right, in the first place.

I most worry about the elderly, the greatest generation from World War II. This generation lived through a depression and a war; they know the signs. The government will provide $2 trillion to the economy. Last week, 3.3 million people applied for unemployment.

We will run out of money. More money will have to be appropriated to sustain America because businesses have been forced to cease existing. New innovations are coming, new ways will come forth. Americans are creative, and resilient.

My mother, who is almost 99, says we are in danger and is seeking escape by leaving the house. My friend’s mother, too, is in her 90s and she is calling family and police to come rescue her. My mother insists there could be a run on banks and special taxes and severe rations. The news is scaring her.

I worry about the elderly that have no one to explain or care for them in the gentlest way to get through this bad moment. The depression generation operates differently than their children and grand children. They stash money in the mattress and the cookie jar. My mother thinks, “They are coming to get us.” I explain it’s a virus. She says, “So when did a cold become so bad.”

She says in her mind, this is why President Roosevelt was the greatest in her lifetime, because he got us through the depression, and he helped everybody. She asks, “Where is your Roosevelt?” She says we should drink whiskey because it kills germs. She is scared and I am failing at accommodating her fear. Her questions are simple, but my answers are complex.

The Church Effect

The effects of this virus are serious. I have had a lot of discussion with ministers who have had to close their doors as they question “essentialism.” What does “essential” mean when the church closes and the liquor store and the gun shop remain open? They, too, talk about the elderly coming to church to pray and to see their ministers for wise words on what to do and where to go.

Rev. Marvin Hunter was most upset. He explained that a woman in her late 80s came to church to find the doors closed and cried after she had been dropped off, not realizing beforehand of the church’s closure. She was walking the streets, alone looking for her Jesus. She said she had no one and nowhere to go, but the church. Bless those who are alone.

I have a friend who has a small church of about 100 people. He held a service on March 15 (before the stay-at-home order was issued) with a guest speaker and about 80 people in attendance. At least 43 of them became ill, including my minister friend, and 10 so far have tested positive for the virus. They are in my constant prayers.

So much for church service; a gathering is a gathering and it doesn’t matter how you space the pews. And in spite of what the President wishes, it probably won’t be wise to go to church on Easter Sunday. Special services can be held from the privacy of your home, as we watch TV ministries.

This virus is vicious. It knows no demographic. If you can catch a cold, you can catch this virus. We are all now equal. Dr. Anthony Fauci has become the expert face speaking words of wisdom and providing excellent information. To date, almost 770,000 people have been affected worldwide; about 38,000 of them have died and about 150,000 have recovered.

Governor Andrew Cuomo may be the Governor of New York, but he has become America’s Governor as he squarely faces this crisis, speaking calmly, but honestly every day about the virus in New York and how he is attacking it. He shows true leadership; the kind Trump never displays when giving a virus briefing. Cuomo would make a superb President or Vice President. Please consider.

The newscast has changed. We see the weatherman and reporters delivering to us from their living rooms, studies and kitchens. It’s another view, a new look for TV, with viral conferences, entertainment, medical notices straight from the IPhone.

Info On The Virus

The news media could provide more information. I want to hear from scientists, doctors and professors. I don’t want the simplified version, I want the details. Here’s what Dr. Irene Ken suggests. Her daughter is a professor of infectious diseases at John Hopkins. She writes the following on the virus:

• The virus is not a living organism, but a protein molecule. Since the virus is not a living organism but a protein molecule, it is not killed but decays on its own. The disintegration time depends on the temperature, humidity and type of material it lies on.

• The virus is very fragile; the only thing that protects it is a thin outer layer of fat. That is why any soap or detergent is so effective – because the foam cuts the fat and that is why you have to rub so much, for 20 seconds or more, to make a lot of foam. Heat melts fat and that is why it is so good to use hot water for washing hands, clothes and everything.

• Alcohol, or any mixture with alcohol over 65 percent, dissolves any fat, especially the external lipid layer of the virus.

• Any mix with one part bleach and five parts water directly dissolves the protein, breaking it down from the inside.

Helpful Tips
The Chinese have found this out about COVID-19. Here are 10 tips to pay attention to:

1. Drinks lots of hot liquids, coffee, soups, teas and hot water every 20 minutes. This keeps your mouth moist and washes any of the virus that has entered your mouth into your stomach.

2. Gargle with antiseptic and warm water every day. Vinegar, salt or lemon work well.

3. The virus attaches itself to hair and clothes. Wash your clothes daily and hang in direct sunlight if possible.

4. Wash metallic surfaces very carefully because the virus can remain viable on these surfaces for up to nine days; even their average is four-five day average is a long time. Be vigilant about cleaning handrails. Maybe use gloves for elevators buttons, ATM machine buttons and other like public buttons and railings.

5. Don’t smoke.

6. Wash your hands a lot for at least 20 seconds. Wash frequently.

7. Eat fruits and vegetables, try to elevate your zinc levels, in addition to your vitamin C levels.

8. Animals do not contract the virus. The virus spreads from person to person.

9. Try to avoid the common cold or flu, as it weakens your immune system, and try to avoid drinking cold things.

10. If you feel any symptoms of a cold or flu, attack it immediately by using the above methods of hot liquids and antiseptic gargles. The virus remains for 3 or 4 days in the throat before traveling to the lungs.

Meanwhile, stay woke. Read a book. Cry a little. Figure out new ways. Pray. Have a drink.