Over the past few weeks in particular, I’ve become pretty well versed with the coronavirus. With sports no longer being played, I’ve had to make a big adjustment in the type of articles I’ve been writing with the main topic being COVID-19 and the seemingly infinite amount of people it impacts.
The first of which may sound like a broken record, but from what I’ve been able to learn it’s becoming more and more necessary with each passing second: If you feel sick in any way or have even the slightest hint of a fever, stay home!
The main symptoms of the virus have been engrained in our skulls repeatedly, from the horrible cough to chest pain, high fever, body aches, loss of sense of taste and smell, etc. But what hasn’t been spread widely is the vast number of people who have ultimately tested positive despite exhibiting completely different symptoms, especially in the early stages.
Recently I have spoken to several people who have either tested positive for coronavirus or know someone well that has. It has even impacted my family. Out of all of the people, only one of them developed the most common symptoms straight away.
I’ve also been in contact with a lot of different types of businesses and business owners to see how the pandemic has affected their business and what steps they’ve taken to protect not only the customers but their employees. It’s not something that I’ve put in the stories because the comments often came after the actual interview portion was over, but nearly every single one of them has talked about how customers have not complied with the safety guidelines that have plastered everywhere by the CDC. Instead some customers have completely ignored the six-foot social distancing advice, continuously touched and picked up items only to place them back on the shelf and are still going into stores with their entire family rather than alone.
On top of that, several workers have told story after story about customers being downright rude when the store is out of particular items and have accused workers of keeping items in the back for themselves. They’ve also verbally and, in one particular case, physically abused people who are just trying to do their jobs and have orders to limit customers to just one or two items of a particular product.
We, as a society, have to do better. The coronavirus is not a joke whatsoever and is not to be taken lightly. Trust me, I’ve unfortunately seen it firsthand. Nobody is invincible against this invisible attacker. It will strike, and it will hit home literally if you don’t respect the potentially dire consequences.
The pandemic isn’t going to end because the government takes any particular action. It can help in some respects, sure, but the only way the curve is going to flatten is if the general population steps up together and rises to the occasion.
Stop going places unless it’s absolutely necessary. If you can avoid it, don’t go places with multiple people even if you know none of you are infected; if one of you comes in contact with the virus, it will likely spread to the whole group. Wash your hands, seriously. It sounds like such a simple thing but is so astronomically important. And lastly, when you do have to go out in public to a store or a business, be kind and courteous. Those workers are risking their own safety and the safety of their family just to serve you.
There’s a quote this all reminds me of, even if the origins of it are in question — “We are all broken. That’s how the light gets in.” Right now our entire world structure is broken. The only way to light up the darkness is to take every precautionary measure you possibly can while maintaining humanity when dealing with others. There is no limit to being safe and certainly no limit on kindness.
Joshua Campbell is sports editor of The Columbian-Progress. Reach him via email at joshuacampbell@columbianprogress.com or call (601) 736-2611.
