COVID-19 Overview

COVID-19

COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Overview

2020 will be marked in history as the “Year of COVID-19”, also called the Coronavirus. Coming as a complete surprise to almost everyone, the COVID-19 virus swept from Wuhan, China, through nearby countries in Asia, then Europe, and the Americas. All of this took place from January to February 2020. 

By March 2020, countries were shutdown and at a standstill. Stock markets plunged. Through human contact via air travel, the virus has been flowing across Earth and devastating countries with millions infected and hundreds of thousands dead. The CDC has been in forefront of the coronavirus pandemic helping to lead our country through such a difficult time. They have given us guidelines for COVID-19 including social distancing, wearing of masks, eliminating large gatherings, and hand washing.

People have compared the COVID-19 pandemic to the Spanish Flu of 1918-1919 when millions were also infected. In that time period, there wasn’t air travel and contact came through nearby people or through shipping routes. Clearly we haven’t learned our lessons for over a hundred years! This will certainly create a wake-up call to worldwide leaders and companies to have much better containment and actions ready to deploy with any future viruses.

Since the coronavirus began, our medical staff, healthcare workers, and essential workers everywhere have been stepping ”into the fire” to save people infected and protect others from being infected. Our healthcare workers have been risking their lives every day among thousands of sick people, watching the dead pass by, and having the fortitude to keep fighting. These are the 2020 heroes and will be always remembered.

We can all support our medical professionals, physicians, nurses, and essential workers by wearing the COVID-19 Ribbon pin. This ribbon was designed to give support and awareness to this dreadful virus and the people fighting it. Buy your ribbon today and become part of the movement to support our healthcare workers. Say to the world that “We Care!”.

If you dig a little deeper into history, you will find that the Spanish flu was very similar to the COVID-19 outbreak. Spread was rapid and the effects were primarily in the respiratory system. The Spanish Flu of 1918 devastated many countries. You need to recall that we were at war (World War I) at that time and many of the best doctors were deployed to war zones. The remaining doctors were overwhelmed and there were no treatments. Aspirin was used for pain relief but even aspirin was thought to have been killing people due to the deadly disease continuing. The Spanish Influenza was the largest pandemic in history. The only main difference with COVID-19 is that the Spanish flu affected the younger population, perhaps due the tight quarters of the soldiers and the extensive travel they had to endure with lowered immunity systems. Masks were worn to prevent spread but similar to today, some countries and cities refused to demand widespread use of masks and other measures to limit the disease. This resulted in many more casualties in those areas.
 
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