IT’S NOT THE VIRUS, IT’S YOU
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, tiredness and dry cough. Most people (about 80%) recover from the disease without needing special treatment. People with fever, cough and difficulty in breathing should seek medical attention.
NOW:
You woke up this morning and the first thing you did was check your whatsapp messages. You saw a message that said “heat kills coronavirus”. You excitedly develop a “formidable” plan to gulp down huge amounts of hot tea at least 4 times a day so as to render yourself virus immune. The flaw however in your plan is that your source “breakyourownnews.com” failed to quote from the WHO website that “Heat at 56 Degrees Celsius kills SARS Coronavirus”. So unless otherwise you plan to quarantine in a furnace for the coming weeks, you are as exposed as everyone else.
Its not the virus that caused this carelessness, its YOU
You quickly share this “heat kills coronavirus” message to your over 20 whatsapp groups each with not less than 50 members without checking the veracity of the information.
Now my area boys in Tamale are walking around in the sun (with temperatures at about 38 Degrees Celsius around this time) boasting of natural immunity all around them.
Its not the virus that caused this misinformation, its YOU.
You read from an unreliable source that wearing a face-mask can protect you from getting the virus because it is in the air. Without thinking through it you go to your local pharmacy and buy all the face-masks in stock apparently to protect yourself. You return from the supermarket having touched so many door handles and rails, your scratch that itch in your eye and toss one of the apples you just bought into your mouth (healthy dieting right). You gaze upon your pile of face-masks with a smile, whiles your next door neighbor who is coughing could not acquire a face-mask to protect the people and surfaces around him.
Its not the virus that caused this insensitivity, its YOU
The Government has announced restrictions of movement in a move to curb the spread of COVID-19, emphasizing that food stores and drug stores will remain open, with enough food for everyone during these trying times. Without waiting to hear the whole story, you rush to the nearest supermarket and buy yourself enough food to last 6 months. You return feeling happy with your pile of food enough to feed my village people for the 3 days and reassure yourself: “ I will survive”.
Its not the virus that caused this greed, its YOU.
According to the WHO, some COVID-19 patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or diarrhea. No where is it mentioned the virus causes carelessness, misinformation, insensitivity or greed.
So the next time you react to news surrounding the fight against COVID-19 ( and i hope it is reliable), be sure to reflect on whether indeed, your reactions are due to the fear of the virus, or the real virus is YOU.
Be safe, Stay at home and remember to maintain personal hygiene.
