Awareness Limits Coronavirus

Spring is in the air!  Parts of the country are beginning to warm up.  People are looking forward to going out.  Not only that, there are holidays to celebrate!

Yesterday was such a day!  It was sunny and high 70’s.  People were out in droves walking around, getting exercise, and generally having a good time by simply getting out for some fresh air.

I noticed that while most people respect the social distancing guidelines, some people seem to throw caution to the wind.  This CAN be due to beautiful weather making its way across the country.  However I feel this may be in large part due to the fact that we cannot SEE the virus.  And since we cannot see the virus, we don’t understand how it works.  We do not realize that this virus must be provided with opportunity.

I overheard a child on my walk telling his playmates what he’ll do to the virus if he sees it.  He put on his best karate moves and said, “If I see the virus, I’m going to do THIS to it!”  And he karate-chopped the air with as much force as he can muster.

He was absolutely adorable!  Why?  Because he is a child full of imagination and wonder.  He must think this virus is 7 feet tall and looks like a cyclops!  But no problem.  He’ll put on his super-hero cape, defeat the virus, and save the world!

We ALL have that child within us.  We all have that mentality to fight for what we believe in.  To stand up for ourselves.  And to make our mark on this world!

That is why it’s so difficult to realize that the best way to defeat this enemy is to do nothing at all.

Wait… WHAT?!

You mean to tell me that I should do nothing?!  But there’s a rampaging 7-foot cyclops that I need to chop into pieces or else the world will be doomed!

Don’t get me wrong.  We are not doing nothing.  Following the social distancing guidelines is pivotal in our fight!

However even the best super heroes stop to think about their plan of attack and their strategy.  You can’t have a plan without understanding the enemy.  So let’s slow down and see if we can understand how this virus works and why it is ESSENTIAL to continue observing and practicing the social distancing guidelines.

Viruses are the Best Opportunists

How many times have you heard advice on seeking opportunities to help advance your life, career, family, and other important goals?  Well maybe you should seek this advice from a virus!

It’s so strange to think of taking advice from a germ.  But these small guys are the best opportunists that you’ll never see.  (Not unless you happen to own an electron microscope)

All viruses must be invited into your body before they get you sick.  We don’t invite them in deliberately.  However we leave the door of opportunity open.

These doors cannot be closed.  They are known as mucous membranes.  Your nose and mouth are mucous membranes.  They must always stay open in order to breathe.  Since the virus takes advantage of this open-door policy, we need to be aware of what comes into contact with that door.  Then we can figure out how to guard that door.

What is in contact with the door?

1. Air
   • We breathe it in and out about 12 – 20 times per minute.  That’s 720 – 1,200 times per hour.  That’s also 17,280 – 28,800 per day!
   •  All kinds of microscopic things are in the air.  Droplets (which can carry viruses from other people), pollen, dust, scents and odors, and others that have the capacity to float in the air.
2. Hands
   •  This is more commonly known because we can SEE them.  Unlike air and the microscopic particles it contains.
   •  However we often forget about our hands because they are integrated into our psyche.  They are not apart from us.  They are a part of us.
   •  Hands have the capacity to touch things and bring them to our faces.
   • Wrists, elbows, and shoulders share the same amount of contact when we scratch our nose with the back of our wrist or sneeze/cough into our elbows and shoulders.
   • Hands can also reach out to other people with handshakes.  But what about hugs?  If you sneezed/coughed into your hand/elbow/shoulder, you just hugged your germs into the other person; And the other person just did the same to you.
3. Food/Water
   • I know of no other way to ingest food or water other than through your mouth.  Children might try to use their nostrils, but the nose and mouth are connected.  Germs in one can spread to the other with ease.
   • Food is often plastic-wrapped at the store.  If they are not wrapped, they are still perfect grounds for germs to collect after being handled by other shoppers.
4. Faces
   •  Other people’s faces can come in close contact with your own.  Again, hugs are a thing.  But so are close-talkers.
   • Work might be an opportunity for viruses because people are often in close groups to resolve an issue.
5. Products
   •  This includes phones, makeup, pillows, razors, cameras, t-shirts (as it goes over your head), scarves, Kleenex, face masks, gloves and more.  These are just things that can touch your face DIRECTLY.
   • Interestingly, a nurse recently made a video with a VERY important message.  The fact that she’s spreading AWARENESS instead of the virus is absolutely valuable!
   • Please watch and listen to what she has to say.  Click here to see a smart nurse demonstrate how we often spread germs without mindfulness.

This is only a SMALL list of things that can come into contact with your mouth and nose.  This is certainly an incomplete list.  I’m sure you can think of many more things.

How to guard the door

Constant awareness stands guard outside the doors of your mouth and nose.

When I did rotations in the hospital, I created a mental red flag.  This red flag gets thrown up every single time my hands approached my face!  Why?  Because that is the best way in my opinion to avoid accidently inoculating myself with any potential germs.

I might suggest using colored gloves at first (be careful if the gloves are made of latex.  People can have allergies).  Then wear them to have a visible red flag to remind you to be mindful.

I established this red flag because it served as a tool to become more mindful of how often I touch my face and therefore how often I expose myself to the opportunity of infection.

So what happens when my hands get near my face?  I ask myself a few questions before I let my hands proceed to make contact:

1. What have I been doing?
   • Shopping?  Putting groceries away?  Cooking?  Putting gas in my car? Working?
2. What have I touched?
   • The shopping cart?  Raw meats/vegetables?  Door handles?  Different products such as food or paper towels?  The pump at the gas station?  Files and documents?
3. When was the last time I washed my hands?
   • A minute ago?  An hour?  A few hours?  Days?
4. Have my hands touched any “high-touch surfaces” since the last time I washed my hands?
   • Shopping carts, again.  Store shelves.  Products in the store (likely handled by several people as they shop around too).  Door knobs/handles.  Sinks.  Toilets.  Water fountains.  Tabletops.  Files and documents that a coworker dropped off on your desk.  ATM machines.  The list of possibilities goes on.
5. Have my hands had a chance to transfer germs to another location I might have recently touched?
   • Did I touch the steering wheel after pumping gas in my car?  After putting groceries in my car?  Etc.

If the answer is “Yes” or “I don’t remember/I don’t know” to any of the 5 main questions, then my hands are not allowed to continue their journey to my face no matter how badly I need to scratch my nose!

The list is not meant to create germophobes.  My intention is to help people become more mindful of where their hands have been throughout the course of the day.

Over time, I was surprised to find that I can remember when I have maintained or broken sanitation.

What about face masks and gloves?

They are only effective if you use them properly.  I once heard of a woman who wore gloves to protect herself while going to the grocery store.  She did everything right to protect herself.  She shopped around and handled other products.  When she went to the produce section, she wanted to taste test something and popped it in her mouth without a second thought!

Can you figure out what she just did?  She basically transferred germs that she collected on her glove and put them directly in contact with the best opportunity any virus can hope for!

I want people to understand that protective gloves and masks are NOT what protects you.  YOU protect yourself.  How?  With mindful awareness of your actions.

What about pets?

I have seen many pet owners during my walks.  And they sometimes run into each other.  While the owners respect the social distancing guidelines, the pets often do not understand.  They tend to gravitate towards one another whether in an aggressive or friendly manner.

I once saw a couple owners crossing paths and stopped to talk.  They kept 6 feet apart, but their pets did not.  They were doing what dogs do when they greet one another.

I think owners might be ok with this because scientists think that pets cannot be infected or even carry Covid 19 to the best of my current knowledge.  However this does present yet another potential opportunity for the virus to spread.

Remember that our entire fight against Covid 19 centers around decreasing and eliminating all the possible opportunities for spreading.

How Fast do Germs Spread?

FAST!  It’s mind-blowing!  Again, it’s not because we want to spread them.  It’s simply because we can’t see them with the naked eye.  “Out of sight, out of mind”, and therefore unaware.  But we CAN be aware of things without seeing them.  We’ve been doing that since we were about 8 months old!

If we hide a ball from a baby, the baby will think nothing more of it.  As though the ball never even existed in the world.  But the baby will begin to remember that there was a ball by about 8 months of age.

Covid 19 is basically a ball in shape.  There’s three ways to hide any ball.  Either you physically obstruct someone’s view of it (ie: putting it in another room, putting it under a blanket, putting it behind something, etc), you can make it so big that people think it’s flat (people have thought this way of the Earth for many years), OR you can make it so small that people can’t even see it even if they’re looking right at it!

Good Morning America broadcasted an interesting experiment on ABC News in January of 2019.  Please click here to see how quickly germs can spread.

Therefore the message I am trying to convey is to be mindfully aware of things you cannot see.

Last Thoughts

I know we are anxious to get out and enjoy the weather!  But we each still have a part to play in protecting ourselves and our loved ones.  We do this by being mindful of our actions.  Remember that protective gear can only help us protect ourselves.

Thank you for reading and please do your best to stay safe.