You can’t turn on your television or open your favorite newspaper without seeing it. The Coronavirus. Its impacts are far-reaching, from your personal safety to your pocketbook.
What is Coronavirus, and how can you keep safe? Let’s take a dig a little deeper.
Foremost, don’t panic, but do prepare.
Covid-19, better known as The Coronavirus, has its roots in a larger – common – family of viruses akin to SARS. Like SARS and its relatives, the Covid-19 is a respiratory infection, and it made a biological jump from animals to humans. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), “…many of the patients at the epicenter of the outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China had some link to a large seafood and live animal market, suggesting animal-to-person spread.
Later, a growing number of patients reportedly did not have exposure to animal markets, indicating person-to-person spread. Person-to-person spread was subsequently reported outside Hubei and in countries outside China, including in the United States.” (CDC, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Summary, 03/09/20)
Here in the United States, we first became aware of the Coronavirus when a deadly outbreak occurred in a nursing facility near Seattle, WA. Since March 2nd, there have been over 1K reported cases resulting in 30 deaths, or out of every 100 reported cases 3 end in fatalities.
That good news, as those numbers are comparable with an average flu season. Remember, the flu season of ’18-’19 took approximately 80K lives in the United States.
The more challenging news is that the impact is worse for seniors, or those 60+.
So how can you prepare for a sustained outbreak? There are two areas of focus – personal protection and financial/asset protection.
Foremost, and we cannot say it enough, handwashing.
Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water for 30 seconds, scrubbing front, back and in-between fingers/palms. More than any other preventative technique, handwashing is essential.
However, the Coronavirus is airborne, so handwashing (alone) will not be effective. Therefore, personal precautions must be enacted.
Certainly, it would be prudent to limit contact with friends or relatives who have travelled abroad or recently been on a cruise, etc.
Someone who is 60+ may want to avoid large gatherings, or public spaces – like the DMV.
Some, particularly those with current medical conditions, will want to avoid trips to Target or Walmart and/or the local grocery.
Who will do those things for you? Do you have a good Samaritan neighbor? A relative (not having travelled recently, and is not sick)?
You can also consider getting help from a service – like Choice Senior Care Navigators of North Carolina – to assist you. We are experts at helping you navigate a complex world and keep you safely at-home or in your community.
Choice Senior Care Navigators of North Carolina offers a wide range of services that coordinate everything from errands and appointments to making the right care provider choices. Our care managers act as guides – or navigators – to assist you or your loved one by leveraging our extensive list of vetted partners to act in your favor.
If you need help, give us give us a call today at 336.303.1419, or visit our webspace at www.choiceconnectionsnc.com.
And keep washing those hands!!
