Preventatives to take for COVID-19

By Samual Garrison, Flashlight Contributor & Matthew Gilpin, Flashlight Contributor

As the United States experiences a boom in COVID-19 (coronavirus) cases, how equipped is Pennsylvania to handle the crisis as a community and as a state?

Conservative estimates report that about 40% of people will be infected with the virus. Knowing this statistic, it is important to know the best ways to stay healthy during the coming weeks and months to stop the spread and keep yourself, your friends, and your family safe.

There are many strategies that you can practice on an individual level to help prepare. The main preventative is handwashing. One should always make sure to wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds (try singing “Happy Birthday” twice). Also make sure you are washing between your fingers, around your thumbs, the back of your hands, and under the nails.

Individuals also need to make sure that they are reducing the number of times that they touch their faces. The surfaces are contaminated with pathogens that can easily pass through the mucous membranes on our faces (like our eyes, nose, and mouth) which can then easily travel to the lungs. By making sure your hands are clean and avoid bringing those hands to your face, you can significantly decrease your chances of getting an infection. People also need to make sure that they are practicing social distancing. This means avoiding being around others as much as possible. Given how easy it is for people to carry pathogens and viruses without being aware of it, it is much easier to spread COVID-19. The CDC’s guidelines are to stay at least 6 feet (2 meters) away from other people, no gatherings of groups (large or small), and to stay out of crowded places and avoid mass gatherings. By avoiding others, we are able to keep not only ourselves from being at risk but our surrounding community.

It is also important to follow guidance from authorities where you live. The CDC also recommends keeping the six feet rule when shopping for food or medicines, if necessary. If you are able, use mail-order for medications and have groceries delivered. The CDC and Governor Wolfe are recommending all (Pennsylvanian) citizens to wear cloth masks when leaving the house to go shopping and to continue to practice the six feet rule while practicing this.

Governor Wolf is suggesting getting two weeks of grocery at a time. By taking what you need for an extended period, you can effectively minimize your time in grocery stores, decreasing your risk of getting infected. However, as important as it is to be prepared yourself, it’s equally as important to allow other people to stay safe and healthy as well. If you take more than what you and your family need, you are effectively damaging someone else’s chances of obtaining products that they need. This is especially harmful in food deserts like Mansfield. Mansfield has only one big grocery store within a half hour walking distance from the town, and getting food and supplies is especially hard without access to reliable transportation. During a pandemic, where there is no immunity against the virus, a community is only as healthy as its most vulnerable members. By taking only what you need you’re allowing other members of your community to fulfill their own needs, better protecting the health of your community overall.

Pennsylvania's current preparations for COVID-19 are lacking as the state tries to prepare the needed supplies for the outbreak. Although the state is doing well with treating patients, the state has nowhere near the number of ventilators needed to treat everyone in the future. Pennsylvania has 2,000 ventilators out of the 6,000 needed during the peak amount of cases. Other supplies the state needs are hospital beds, testing kits, and other general personal protective equipment. The state and local communities are doing everything possible to ensure the safety of everyone. Even MU is doing its part by lending seven hospital beds to Wellsboro's hospital.

During this time of stress and worry, it is important to stay calm and do what you can to stay safe and healthy, not just for yourself but for others as well. To stay informed on what to do, we all must listen to public health officials, like the CDC, and the consensus of the scientific community to ensure we act in the best interest of stopping the spread of disease. As more information comes to light, it will be important to adjust our behaviors to stay safe and prevent any exacerbation of the current crisis. To make it through the quarantine we need to stay vigilant for any updates and flexible in how we act. For now, the most important thing we can do as individuals is to be cautious, be patient, and do our part to make sure we flatten the curve and stop the spread.

Photo courtesy of Politico.com:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the leading national public health institute of the United States.