According to James Robb, MD, University of California, San Diego, the coronavirus sweeping the country is not “likely to be reasonably contained.”
He shared his comments in a memorandum shared with close colleagues and friends.
Robb is a former professor of pathology at the University of California, San Diego. During the decade of the1970, Robb was one of the first molecular virologists in the world to work on coronaviruses.
According to his memorandum, he “is the first person to demonstrate the number of genes the virus contained.”
Since then, Robb states, he “has kept up with the coronavirus field and its multiple clinical transfers into the human population. For example, SARS and MERS, from different animal sources.”
Robb believes the coronavirus will be widespread in the United States by mid to late March and April.
There are several precautions Robb believes that the public can take to safeguard itself from the COVID-19.
- NO HANDSHAKING! Robb recommends the use of a fist bump, slight bow, or elbow bump.
- Use ONLY your knuckle to touch light switches, elevator buttons, and when filling up the car gas tank to life, the gasoline dispenser with a paper towel or use a disposable glove.
- Open doors with your closed fist or hip — do not grasp the handle with your hand unless there is no other way to open the door. Not touching doors with your hands are especially crucial on bathroom doors and post office and other commercial doors.
- Use disinfectant wipes at the stores where they are available, including wiping the handle and child seat in grocery carts.
- Whenever you return home from activity that involves locations where other people have been, wash your hands with soap for 10–20 seconds. If you cannot wash your hands, use a hand sanitizer that has alcohol content higher than sixty percent.
- Keep a bottle of sanitizer available at each of your home’s entrances, AND in your car for use after getting gas or touching other contaminated objects when you can’t immediately wash your hands.
- If possible, cough or sneeze into a disposable tissue and discard. Use your elbow only if you have no other choice. The clothing on your elbow will contain an infectious virus that can live for up to a week or more.
As we move to unchartered potential pandemic territory the key phrase is staying alert, and good luck.
Harold Michael Harvey is the author of Freaknik Lawyer: A Memoir on the Craft of Resistance. He is a Past President of the Gate City Bar Association. He is the recipient of Gate City’s R. E. Thomas Civil Rights Award, which he received for his pro bono representation of Black college students arrested during Freaknik celebrations in the mid to late 1990s. An avid public speaker, contact him at [email protected].