You wake up in the morning feeling great, with no signs of that COVID-19 thing everyone
is worried about.
You decide to meet a few friends — who also look and feel great, with no signs of any
viruses.
Later that night, some of these friends attended a birthday party.
Nothing bad could happen, right?
Here’s the problem: though you show no symptoms, you were carrying the SARS-COV-2 virus - because
the disease COVID-19 can take a couple of weeks before any signs show.
Not only that, based on what we know today, almost 80% of infected people show very mild
or even no symptoms at all.
You’re carrying and spreading this virus and you have no idea you’re doing it.
Meanwhile, because of how contagious this virus is, all three of your friends got infected
from meeting you.
Then, they infected others at that birthday party.
Some of those people then carried the virus to their friends and families - crucially,
to their elderly parents living at home with them who are more vulnerable to this disease
than you are.
Without knowing, you just infected hundreds of people - most will be fine, but some will
get extremely sick and might even die.
Today the data shows that one infected person can infect at least 2 to 3 people in just
one week - and those 2-3 people can infect 2-3 more people and so on.
There is only one way to break this chain: stay inside and don’t meet anyone - what
scientists call social distancing and self-quarantine.
If you and your friend stayed home, none of those people would have been infected.
In some cultures, many of us live near our parents and grandparents — sometimes even
under the same roof!
Italian culture has similar inter-generational mingling, and we have seen just how deadly
the coronavirus has been in Italy, with doctors begging the rest of the world to isolate themselves
and break the chain.
And in some cities people are packed together like sardines.
In New York City, coronavirus is “spreading like a bullet train,” according to its New
York’s governore.
NYC’s high population density makes it difficult to avoid others and isolate, but they have
no choice.
And we can’t forget that there are much more crowded places in the world - where social
distancing and quarantines can mean people might not be able to put food on the table.
But without these measures, they could end up in a worse situation than Italy and NYC.
Until there are low-cost drugs and vaccines, this might be all we can do.
This chain will not break in one or two days, it’ll take much longer.
We can put pressure on our governments to provide food and shelter for those isolating,
we can donate directly to them and we can be kind when we are most scared.
Today, some people living in hotter countries near the equator who may be most economically
vulnerable may think their heat and humidity might slow down this virus.
There is a lot of research on this and it is true that many viral diseases are seasonal,
but the experts have not come to a conclusion and there’s evidence both ways.
So right now, not taking action is unscientific and extremely dangerous.
Science explains the natural world, and this virus has evolved naturally - that’s why
it's critical today to understand how it evolved and spread.
This is the perfect time for us to Think, and understand science - let’s share that
thought when we see rumours, superstition and fake-news.
This is the best way to slow down and stop this pandemic - to protect our loved ones
and lives around the world.
With social distancing - we come closer together as humanity.
At Think, we’re serious about socially isolating.
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