People seem to be on one side or another when confronting this outbreak. People are either too careless about it (
MEN: WASH YOUR HANDS IN THE BATHROOM EVEN IF YOU DO NOT HAVE TO TOUCH A DOOR HANDLE!) or are panicking to a ridiculous degree.
While I think that people should be concerned about COVID-19 and taking all the necessary precautions, we need to tamp down the panic and judgment culture that people create in stores and online. The panic that leads to people hoarding Lysol and preventing others from getting what they need to clean and disinfect. If you are self-quarantining for a week or two, or just limiting your time outside, you probably only need a pack or two of disinfectant wipes; not 10 cases! At a local store, I saw a guy with two shopping carts full of meat products - you do not need that much meat even if we quarantine for a month! Eat a darn PB&J sandwich every once in a while!
We should all have an abundance of caution and it is a good idea to practice social distancing so that the medical world can try to catch up to the virus and limit its spread. However, we must also realize that COVID-19 is a new reality for us that will likely never go away; everyone at some point will need to adjust to live a normal life. Even with available testing and effective vaccines, it may still be a deadly virus that spreads quickly.
The starkest observation I have had is just how many people, on an individual level, are so incapable of dealing with any kind of threat like this and how unsanitary people are in general. We truly do live in a "ME" culture.
EDIT: Just after posting this, I find this article on CNN.
"This pandemic risks bringing out the worst in humanity"
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/15/world/coronavirus-humanity-global-response-intl/index.html“Fortunately, there is gin, the sole glimmer in this darkness.Do you feel the golden, copper-coloured light it kindles in you? I like walking through the city of an evening in the warmth of gin.” – Albert Camus
.
.
