By Rosie Moore

When I was a young girl, there were no worries of epidemics or pandemics. Parents were mostly concerned with child-hood diseases, such as chicken pox, measles, mumps and whooping cough. There were bouts of tuberculosis, smallpox, and polio, but they were before my time. It was in high school, which was in 1949 and 1950, that events happened that would have a lasting effect on me. It was the atomic bomb era. Each day when a whistle blew, we would leave our homerooms and go into the hall, sit on the floor with our backs to the walls for fifteen minutes. To this day, I don’t know why we went through this demonstration, except to give us a feeling of protection and safety. That is truly the only odd experiment that I went through.

A pandemic is somewhat different from an epidemic. It’s a global disease outbreak and infects a greater number of people than an epidemic. It is often caused by a new virus or a strain of virus that has not circulated among people for a long time. Humans usually have little to no immunity against it. The virus spreads quickly from person-to-person worldwide. it causes much higher numbers of deaths than epidemics.

These are scary but true facts. However, if we all stick together and do what is necessary to combat this pandemic, we will over-come it.

I know everyone has read information about the current pandemic we are now going through, but I want to share some interesting facts that may help anyone who is concerned about how to avoid this pandemic. Or, if you already went through the episode, how to escape getting it again. Public health experts say it’s not a matter of IF a pandemic may happen, but WHEN. It is essential to be prepared. Here are a few things you can do:

Plan ahead in case services are disrupted. This is especially important if someone in your family has special needs. For example, make sure to have a way to fill needed prescriptions.

Make a list of important contacts for home, school, and work.

Talk with your neighbors, workplace, and school about how to plan for staying home if you or your household members are sick.

Buy and store at least two weeks’ worth of food, water medicine, and facemasks.

Stay as healthy as you can by getting adequate rest, managing stress, eating right, and continuing to exercise.

So far, there are some things we have learned from this pandemic, but there are still some facts we aren’t sure of.

One thing to remember is: This too shall pass away.

Thought for the day:

Do all the good you can

In all the ways you can

To all the souls you can

In every place you can

At all the times you can

With all the zeal you can

As long as ever you can.

John Wesley

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