Although the subject of a possible pandemic has been studied from best to worst-case scenarios for decades, we are heading into an unchartered course.
The potential coronavirus pandemic sweeping the country is a case of the first impression, and the population does not have a roadmap to get through a possible pandemic.
What makes this course doubly tricky to navigate is the government’s failure to adequately prepared the general public on best practices in case of a pandemic in clear and unambiguous terms.
Usually, the government couches the status of the coronavirus in political terms designed to protect the political interest of the agency of government issuing the pronouncement.
What are some best practices the public can utilize as scientists grapple with developing a vaccine to combat this virus strain?
According to Dr. James Robb, MD University of California at San Diego, the coronavirus “Is spread in large droplets by coughing and sneezing. This means that the air will not infect you! But all the surfaces where these droplets land is infectious for about a week on average — everything that is associated with infected people will be contaminated and potentially infectious.”
Dr. Robb writes, “The virus is on surfaces, and you will not be infected unless coughed or sneezed directly on your unprotected face by an infected person. This virus only has cell receptors for lungs cells (it only infects your lungs).”
Moreover, Dr. Robb believes, “The only way for the virus to infect you is through your nose or mouth. Usually, through your hands or an infected cough or sneeze onto or into your nose or mouth.”
In preparation for a potential pandemic, Dr. Robb has stocked the following four items and recommends the public stock them in case of a pandemic:
- Latex or nitrite latex disposable gloves for use when going shopping, using the gasoline pump, and all other outside activity when you come in contact with contaminated areas.
- Stock up now with disposable surgical masks and use them to prevent from touching your nose and mouth — we feel our nose and mouth 90 times a day without knowing it. The cover will not prevent the virus from getting into your nose or mouth; it is only to keep you from touching your nose or mouth.
- Stock up now with hand sanitizers. The hand sanitizers must be alcohol-based and greater than 60% alcohol to be effective.
4. Stock up now with zinc lozenges. Tests prove these tablets are effective in blocking coronavirus (and most other viruses) from multiplying in your throat and nasopharynx. Use as directed several times each day when you begin to feel ANY ‘cold-like’ symptoms starting to form. It is best to lie down and let the tablet dissolve in the back of your throat and nasopharynx.
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 hmharvey@haroldmichaelharvey.com.