Outbreak Diary - Day 006

As this blog says, I am an Absurd Word Nerd, and whilst I am a bit of a stickler for language being used concisely and to avoid misunderstanding, I do appreciate a good pun, so I'm enjoying some of the new terms coming out of this pandemic.
If you're scared of becoming coronic¹ in the wake of the rona², you may well be coronaphobic³. But whether you're scared, or fearless, don't be a covidiot⁴; because there is a coronacopia⁵ of ways to catch Trump Flu⁶, and we're all in this together... facing the coronapocalypse⁷.

¹ Coronic (src) adj. To have contracted coronavirus.
² the Rona (src) n. (slang) Shorthand for "the coronavirus".
³ Coronaphobia (src) n. The generalized fear of catching the current strain (COVID-19 in March 2020) of human coronavirus.
⁴ Covidiot (src) n. A person ignoring public health warnings regarding COVID-19 , or hoarding goods, denying them from their neighbours.
⁵ Coronacopia (src) n. (informal) a place which has a plethora of ways to spread the coronavirus infection.
⁶ Trump Flu (src) n. 1. A communicable disease, often with flu-like symptoms, which puts careless, unisolated, old, overweight & unhealthy persons (i.e. persons much like Donald J. Trump) at high risk of infection and death. 2. (informal) COVID-19.
⁷ Coronapocalypse (src) n. The apocalypse, specifically as caused by coronavirus.

Hey, you have to find ways to have fun during this pandemic, and ways to refer to new concepts, such as idiots ignoring the rules... it's unfortunate that we've had so many of these people that we're labelling them, but covidiot is definitely the term amongst these which has spread the farthest into the community at large.

People can be quite ignorant of the severity of this spread - but thankfully not all of them are "covidiots". There are some people that simply don't know, or maybe they don't understand, how or why things are the way they are. And if I'm honest, I don't blame them - the Australian Government has been scrambling to try to put the genie back into the bottle on this one, since they implemented public health guidelines too late, and as a result it seems like we're getting daily updates on new things that are closing, new restrictions in place and contradictory policies. And since the main concern is simply shutting them down, rather than explaining why these ones are being shut down, yet others remain open, it can sometimes seem like they're being picked at random. So, let's lay this all out so it's clear and easy to understand.

So, what is and isn't closed, and Why?

Let's start with the most comprehensive list of "which businesses are shut and locked down, which aren't, and which are in between" that I can manage. So, at time of writing (27th March, 2020):

Arts Venues (such as Art Galleries, Historic Sites, Museums & Public Libraries); Community Services (such as Community Centres & Youth Centres); Entertainment Venues (such as Amusement Parks, Arcades, Casinos, Cinemas, Gambling/Gaming Venues & Night Clubs); Beauty Therapy (such as Nail Salons, Piercing Salons, Tanning Salons & Tattoo Parlours); Licensed Venues (such as Bars, Clubs & Pubs); Indoor Sport Venues (such as Boot Camps, Gyms, Enclosed Courts/Fields, Fitness centres, Sport Stadiums & Yoga Studios); Play Venues (such as Community Pools, Play Areas, Playgrounds [Indoor & Outdoor] & Children's Entertainment); Sex Work Venues (such as Brothels & Strip Clubs) & Wellness Centres (such as Bathhouses, Massage Parlours, Saunas & Spas) - are CLOSED, no exceptions. They must close their doors, and not offer any goods or services until restrictions are lifted.

Accomodation Services (such as Bed & Breakfast, Boarding Houses, Campsites, Caravan Parks, Hotels & Motels); Barbershops (such as Hairdressers & Hairstylists); Hospitality Venues (such as Bistros, Cafés, Food Courts & Restaurants); Performance Venues (such as Arenas, Auditoriums, Concert Halls & Stadiums); Real Estate Services (especially Auction houses & Open houses); Religious Gatherings (such as Church services, Funereal Services & Weddings) & Travel Services (such as Airports, Cruise Terminals, Docks & Train Stations) - are RESTRICTED in their operations, but may remain open. They must either offer goods via delivery, drive-thru or take-away; offer services with limited capacity such as specific limits on the customers/attendees or they can only offer their services strictly via telephone or online.

Community Aid (such as Food Banks & Homeless Shelters); Education Services (such as Boarding Schools, Early Childcare Facilities, Primary School & Highschool); Essential Retail Services (such as Bottle Shops, Grocery Stores & Petrol Stations); Essential Healthcare Services (such as General Practitioners; Hospitals & Pharmacies) - are OPEN, with no specific qualifications (as yet). They still must observe social distancing & health guidelines wherever possible, of course.

Okay, so, why are these restrictions in place? Why are people banned from getting a haircut, but not a bottle of wine? How come I can't travel to foreign countries, but foreigners can come here? And most importantly, how come we've shut down places where adults gather, but not schools, with hundreds of kids in one place?

Well, let me introduce you to something known as Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs...
The concept is simple, we all have things we want, but there are some things we need. You may want to have friends, we all do - in fact, it's necessary for mental health in social creatures like humans. But, if someone grabs your throat and starts strangling you, as important as friendship is, it's much more important to get air into your lungs. So, the hierarchy is organized like so, with the least-important necessities at the top, but the most vital of needs at the bottom:

Self-Actualization
Achieving Personal Goals
Self-Esteem
Maintaining the Ego & Emotional Health
Social Belonging 
Being an Integral Part of a Society or Social Community
Safety
Keeping Comfortably Distant from Harmful Persons, Objects, Situations or Ideas.
Physiological Needs
Things that help you survive: Breathing, Drinking, Eating, Sleeping; Staying Clothed & Sheltered.

Believe it or not but, for the most part, the reason why some things are closed and some things are open seems to align pretty well alongside this hierarchy of needs. Now, this pandemic involves a virus that causes serious harm and even death, it threatens our Safety, and it spreads from person to person, by touch or close proximity, this means that if you look at this hierarchy now, everything involving "Social Belonging", and above is considered in the Red, it's not only less important in the hierarchy, but often holds potential risk. Only Safety & Physiological Needs are in the Green.

That doesn't mean that you don't need to achieve your goals, or be a part of the community - but we're currently being strangled by this virus, we're gasping for air, so we need to focus on Safety first.

Everything, every single thing on the "CLOSED" list has clear safety concerns. They either require bodily contact or close proximity, foster large crowds or they take place in a high-touch environment (which is to say, a place where several people are required to handle the same products or touch the same surfaces), which means they put people at risk.
So, Arts Venues, Community Centres, Entertainment Venues, Licensed Venues & Play Venues, are shut because of the crowds, keeping distance is difficult, and since they're not vital, they close.
Beauty Therapy, Indoor Sports Venues, Sex Work Venues & Wellness Centres are shut because they are high-touch venues (gym, spa and sports equipment changes hands a lot), or they require direct bodily contact (such as with massage & prostitution), and since they're not vital, they close.

Things on the "RESTRICTED" list, they tend to have safety concerns, but they either serve some vital role in our safety or physiological health, or all risk can be removed with simple restrictons.
Performance Venues, Real Estate, Religious Gatherings & Travel Services all have crowds - however, if you restrict the crowds (as has been done), or only allow online services, such as online performances, auctions and religious observances, then all risk is eliminated. Except perhaps for Travel Services, since there's still a risk if foreign people enter the country when coming from places with a high community infection rate, and that concerns me, but there are plans to limit that kind of travel. (Author's Note: Keep an eye on this one though, this is just my opinion but there still seems to be a lot of traffic going in and out of Australia, for all of it to be "essential".)
Accomodation Services; Barbershops & Hospitality Venues all provide necessities, since food, shelter and health is important - and don't worry, I'll explain barbershops. Now, although most people can buy groceries, if you are, say, a doctor or a nurse, you may be too tired or busy to cook your own dinner or make your own breakfast, especially if you live alone or - as this crisis often calls for - have a demanding and tiring job. Also, accomodation services are merely allowing current and permanent residents to stay, but not admitting new or temporary tenants.
Now, Barbershops... this one seems weird, and I admit that it is probably the odd-one-out. But, I believe the reason why they have an exception is because having long hair can not only get in the way for some jobs (think how nurses and food workers often need hairnets), but since hair has natural oils on it, viruses can stick to it. Most importantly, although the majority of people can probably cut their own hair, the elderly & many people with mental or physical disabilities either cannot, or can't do so safely. (Author's Note: Personally, I feel like there are other workarounds for this - why not have specialist hair-dressers do at-home visits for those in need, and for everyone else, give them hair-cutting tutorial? Honestly, I don't know. So, unless there is some other vital need for haircuts that I'm missing, this is the only reason I can see.)

Now, the 'OPEN' list. These are things which are essential, or which pose a greater risk if they are shut down.
Community Aid & Essential Healthcare Services, as well as Grocery Stores specifically - these keep people alive. Grocery Stores, Food Banks & Homeless shelters, duh, provide Food & Shelter to those in need; and obviously healthcare services are caring for those who are infected, as well as people who need urgent care.
Essential Retail Services, such as Bottle Shops and Petrol Stations, well, petrol stations are obvious, if you close them then people can't refuel, and since town-planning assumes the ability to travel by road, that would make travel impossible. Not to mention, if you travel by car, you're in an enclosed space, so it's less risky (from a virologists point of view) to drive to work than to walk. But, why Bottle Shops? Well, the sad fact of the matter is that according to some statistics, 1 in every 5 Australians are responsible for 75% of the nation's alcohol consumption, and at least one million people reported an average of EIGHT (8) standard drinks on a daily basis. We have shut down all the licensed venues where people can get a drink in public, but we don't know what would happen if we suddenly forced approximately 5 million alcoholics to go cold-turkey overnight, so bottle shops remaining open is simply a safety issue. We can't risk the fall-out of taking away their vice, so rather than having people drunk on the street, we're having them drunk at home.

Now, lastly, and finally... Education Services. Why are the schools open?
There is clearly a risk of crowding - classrooms have an average of 25 students often sitting side-by-side at desks, not to mention when they play on the playground together. And, children aren't responsible enough to maintain social distancing rules, or wash their hands. So, aren't they at serious risk at school?

No. Kids aren't at serious risk. I wouldn't say they're "safe", because as far as we can tell no one is immune to this virus, so no one is safe from it, but they're not at greater risk at school - and there is some risk when you keep them home. To understand why, there are four things you need to understand.

1. School-Aged Children are at the Lowest Risk from COVID-19

I want to show you a graph, and this graph comes from the the Australian Government's Department of Health Website. The link to the website should have an updated graph, but the image presented below was last updated 26/03/2020, the day before yesterday, at time of writing:

These are all of the Confirmed Cases of People that are Infected with COVID-19 in Australia, Sorted by Age and Separated by Sex. These aren't all the dead people, this are just the total number of people with the disease. Now, one of the first thing's you may notice is that 20-something women are high risk, I'm not sure why, but it's an interesting datum.
But, the other thing you will notice is that the bulk of the numbers in this graph consist of people aged twenty to seventy-nine. Considering that Elderly people are in the high-risk category, we get to give ourselves a pat on the back for our luck and/or effort that has kept them healthy - since they are still the highest fatality rate worldwide. But there are less than 25 cases of children aged 9 or less getting sick, and less than 100 cases of kids as old as 19.

Now, what about deaths? Well, as I said in a previous post, there have been NO FATALITIES for children aged 9 and under worldwide, let alone Australia. And As for 10-19? Well, it's hard to get exact numbers - but from what I can tell, there have been 2 worldwide (1 in the U.S. & 1 in Spain), but none in Australia. Don't get me wrong, the death of any person is a tragedy, especially someone so young, and I don't want to pretend like these deaths don't matter, because they do.
But, that being said, we're talking 2 in the whole world, and both from areas with high infection rates. Plus, although there is no data to determine whether these victims had pre-existing conditions or weakened immune systems, there is also no evidence to the contrary, so the possiblity that they were higher-risk still remains.
So, as it stands, schoolchildren have the lowest risk of contracting this disease, and then the lowest risk of dying from it, if they get sick.

2. If a Child is at School, they aren't in the Community

Children are, in general, irresponsible. They usually don't wash their hands properly, they often don't do as they're told, they aren't well-educated (yet), they are easily distracted, they often put things in their mouth, I've never seen a schoolkid under the age of 10 cover their mouth when they cough or sneeze & they fall over and hurt themselves a lot.
So, doesn't it therefore make sense to send them to school, where teachers have years of experience dealing with them and keeping them busy, than to have them out in the community at large? As I said prior, schoolchildren are the least likely to get sick - so, doesn't it make sense to let them all bounce around and against each other, than it is to send them into the community, to bump into someone who has a higher likelihood of getting them sick in the first place, or more likely transferring that sickness around to others?

If schoolchildren are at school, it reduces their risk of getting sick, but more importantly the risk of everyone around them, since our risk is higher than theirs. Now, you might think "well, why not just lock schoolchildren inside, and not let them out?"
A couple of things. Firstly, if you're not at home with them, then that may very well be illegal, falling under "supervisory neglect", which is when a child is left unsupervised for an unreasonable amount of time (Author's Note: The Law is deliberately vague on what constitutes "an unreasonable amount of time", as it depends on the age of the child, the circumstances they're left in and the provisions made for their care). Secondly, schoolchildren need to be able to get out and play and keep their minds busy, because keeping young schoolkids locked up inside isn't good for their development - they need supervision. Even if a lack of supervision doesn't put them at danger, it still puts them at a severe disadvantage. Schoolkids need to be supervised.

3. Some Children Can't Stay at Home

Maybe some parents can stay home and supervise their children, and if you are at home, as a family, then this is a good opportunity to spend time together. However, not everyone can do that. If you have a job, you need to keep that job, so you can't take time off work to take care of your children that are suddenly at home 24/7. In some households, both parents work, or one of the parents works nightshift and sleeps daily, or one parent has a disability, or it's a single-parent houeshold, or one of the family members is self-isolating or a member of the family is stuck overseas, outside of our borders - there are millions of people in this country, and everyone has their own story, and not every story is as simple as "well, I'll just quit my job and take care of the kids, and everything will be fine."
The fact of the matter is that there are a whole lot of nurses, doctors, grocers, politicians & researchers who cannot take care of their children at home right now - and simply asking thousands and thousands of people to hire a babysitter or a tutor not only isn't something they can afford (and bringing in grandparents to babysit just puts them at risk), and even if they could, it would violate social distancing and social isolation, putting the children and the sitter/tutor at risk.

There's also suggestions of having distance-schooling, and that does seem like a viable option for some people, by having schoolchildren learn stuff online. But the problem with that is not only do some schoolchildren have a harder time learning without one-on-one support, but there are a whole lot of people who don't have access to the internet. I know that seems crazy in this day and age, but we're talking about the entirety of Australia. Like I said,

4. When it comes to Educating Children, Timing is Critical

A school is not simply a babysitting service. it may seem like it from the outside, but even early childcare and kindergarten is for social development, and is vital for a child to develop necessary skills and habits. I struggle to explain how important schooling is because, to me, it's self-evident. Young schoolchildren learn how to speak, read, write, follow tasks, use problem solving, play and socialize but also learn the importance of separating work time from play time & they learn more and more about this amazing world we live in, which you and I get to take for granted because we've already been to school and we know all this cool stuff already. Then for older students, it teaches how to work together, it teaches critical thinking skills, responsibility, time management, setting and accomplishing goals.
And the reason I'm listing all of this stuff, even though I think it's obvious, is because if you don't teach children this stuff now, you might never be able to.
This is a concept in biology known as a Critical Period, which states that as you mature, there are specific spans of time in which your nervous system becomes more sensitive to environmental stimuli, meaning that if you aren't exposed to such stimuli, then it may become difficult - even impossible - to learn certain tasks or skills. Basically, as a child, your brain is growing, and growing, and it's able to stretch and warp and bend - like warm plastic, hence why this concept is called "neuroplasticity" - this means that children can learn new ideas, new concepts and create the connections in their brain necessary for the understanding of those ideas. But, as you get older, that neuroplasticity starts to solidify. You can still learn, but it's a lot harder to learn, because instead of your brain growing whole new connections, instead it has to rely on the old connections, meaning that you can only understand concepts if it aligns with the ideas you already have.
I am no neurologist, so I believe you can still create some new connections in your brain - but it's a lot harder to do, and you're actually more likely to lose old, unused connections than to gain newer ones.
So, as far as I'm concerned, taking children out of school is a very dangerous game, not only for everyone in the community now, but also for their future.


Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think this is a simple issue, and "go to school and learn" or "stay at home, locked away" aren't the only two options. People have talked about having restricted schooling - only those who cannot keep kids at home can school them. Or, we can do what we're essentially doing now, having people take their children out of school if they can afford to (although, for now, I do insist: please, send your kids to school so long as it's open, it really is the best thing for them, unless they're in the high-risk category). Also, children aren't the only issue - teachers go to schools as well, and have to interact with these kids, and if that's going to continue, then safety measures for those teachers need to be put in place.
I'm not telling you "these are the reasons why children MUST stay in school", these are simply the reasons why it's okay that schools are still open, why it's been legislated this way, and why I believe you should send your children to school, unless there are outstanding circumstances.

I'm the Absurd Word Nerd, and what do you think about all this? Are you for, or against, school closures? Let me know in the comments. Until Next Time, I'm going to go see if I can learn something new about this virus...

Outbreak Diary - Day 002

I want to start this on a lighter note, because this might get a bit serious. So, first... I went for a walk today, and I liked it. I needed the exercise, and it was good to see so many people keeping their distance. I assume the people walking side-by-side are either family or couples - I believe that is perfectly okay but if not, maybe keep that in mind.

But, one thing pissed me off... joggers. Not every jogger, some of you were nice. I know social distancing isn't meant to mean "be social", but I said hello to people anyway (I want people to know that I'm still personable even if I'm literally not approachable, and it seemed to make some people smile) and I don't mind that joggers don't say hello back - you pass more people, it probably would get annoying, and you are probably a little more out of breath, that's fine.

What's NOT fine, is when joggers put their earbuds in, try to ignore the world, and run right past people less than half-a-metre away. Not only is it incredibly rude to do that, but it's dangerous. I had TWO joggers do this to me. I recognize that many of the footpaths are about a metre wide, meaning that you'd have to step off the path to keep the 1.5-metre distance, but every other person managed to do that, so there is no excuse not to - it's not like the ground was slippery, and even if it was, you're allowed to stop jogging for 4 seconds, and walk around. Your jog isn't more important than public health, you miserable oxygen thief.
In fact, that's the most important part, as I also said above, you guys breathe heavily. I don't care if you think you've improved your cardio, because it's a scientific fact that when you burn energy the chemical reaction of the breakdown that turns stored fat or nutrients into energy, requires oxygen and creates carbon dioxide as a byproduct. This means that when you use more energy, such as when you jog, you need to breathe in more to help this chemical process, and you need to breathe out more to exhaust the waste products of this reaction.
So, when you jog that close, you're breathing all up on me and everyone else you slip past, with your potentially-infectious respiratory droplets, not to mention potentially your sweat. If you can't jog, and keep your distance from other people like a respectful human being, buy a treadmill. Or, just stay inside and stop offending people with your presence.

Fear and Loathing in BrisVegas

Perhaps, I am at a slight advantage to most.

Early in January, I lost my job because the charity I worked for closed its retail sector, meaning my job dissolved - so, when thousands and thousands of people lost their jobs, I was no worse off.
I am an ambivert, so whilst I can occasionally go out with a group of friends, I find a lot of comfort being on my own - so, when people were told to keep their distance from friends and socialize less, I was no worse off.
Although I don't consider myself rich, I don't have many expenses, and I live with family which is fairly well off (probably upper-middle class, socioeconomically) - so, when the economy hit its slump, I was no worse off.
Most of the things that I take comfort and joy in, are watching movies (particularly DVDs), reading books (I have hundreds), listening to music (alone) & writing, both fiction and online journals like this - so, when people we're told to stay indoors as much as possible, I was no worse off.
Heck, I might even be better off, since it gives me more of an excuse to write.

So, perhaps the reason why I am not as bothered by all of the COVID-19 restrictions and hardships is because I have the privilege of not suffering from them. The worst thing this virus has done for me is, firstly, it means it's harder to find a job (Author's Note: I am still looking. Is anyone out there looking for a writer, barista or retail manager? Anyone? Please...), and secondly, it means I can't go to the movies, and I was looking forward to seeing that Fantasy Island movie - but hell, unless movie studios like losing money, I'm sure they'll find some way to let people download movies for a fee at home, so even that second part, I'm not so bothered by.

The reason I mention all this is, I am not at all worried about the coronavirus.
Of course, I am concerned - everyone should be concerned, this isn't a picnic - but I'm not upset, perturbed or afraid of it. And that's the big one, fear.
Last night, I was watching the channel 9 "Coronavirus - The Latest" program, because I find it interesting, and like I said yesterday, it's good to stay informed. But not only were the hosts often saying that they were scared, and also that many viewers were scared and that we all need to stay calm; but, there was also this Channel 7 PSA which had all these celebrities, actors, journalists, sportsfolk and media personalities saying things like "these are scary times", "stay safe", "keep your spirits up", "you're not alone" and "we're all in this together", along with the hashtag #together.
I thought it was really cute, and a good idea for people who are worried, and so people can stick together and not feel isolated, even if they have self-isolated.

But, it occured to me, I thought it was cute, but there must be people out there who need it - I mean, are you scared? Genuinely, you reader, are you scared? That's not a rhetorical question, by all means respond in the comments below, because I can only speak for my own experiences, and in my experience, I merely feel "annoyed, but complacent" in regards to all this.
Let me be the first to say, you entirely have the right to be upset, and you have the right to be very concerned. People are losing their jobs, the economy is buggered, I'm sure there are people out there on the verge of homelessness or at high-risk and not able to follow all of the health and safety guidelines, and I know for a fact that there are some issues with getting certain specialist or overseas medicines and people are even talking about this being as impactful to the economy, society, politics, culture and art as WW2 or The Depression.

So, I'm not stupid, I understand that there is reason to be worried. But, once again, I may be in a place of advantage because, well, I suffer from chronic anxiety - so despite all this stress, I was no worse off.

I've talked about it on this blog before, but if you're only reading these Outbreak Diaries, let me tell you, I take medication to manage my anxiety, but most importantly for you readers, I've come to understand what anxiety really is, and what it means.
You see, there are two types of stressors for an anxious reaction. I am sure there's an official term in the psychological field, but these are what I call them:

Irrational Stressors - These are the type I ususally suffer from, when I overthink something, and build some fantastic situation where no matter what I do, I will fail - a good example is "I can't find my keys; I'll never find my keys; now I can't drive anywhere; I'm trapped at home alone; my life is at a standstill," - as you can see, irrational, it's making irrational, illogical leaps from one thought to the other. There are often simple, rational ways around it, but the stress makes you lose perspective, so you're unable to see how irrational these fears are.

Overreactive Stressors - These are the type which, from what I can tell, people who are scared about coronavirus are suffering. So, I don't need an example, because it's people looking at the situation, like this coronavirus and thinking "I've lost my job, or the economy is struggling; I don't know what the future will hold, as these are new and uncertain times; people will die, and if I am not careful I and/or my family are at risk" - as you can see, this is rational, since this fear is real. But, that doesn't change the fact that anxiety (in the chronic, mental illness sense), is still an overreaction. See, even though this stressor is real and present, the stress still makes you lose perspective, so you're unable to see how you can deal with these real and present dangers.

Think of it like... there is a landmine in your back yard, and you know about it. A landmine is dangerous and deadly, and can definitely kill, disable, debilitate or seriously harm anyone that gets too close. It would be irrational to ignore it, but it would be just as irrational to freak out, run around the house screaming "bomb, bomb, bomb, we're all going to die!", or sitting in the corner crying, or whatever exaggerated scene of worry you can think of.
Yes, the bomb is real, and that is a real and present obstacle - but if you worry and stress, now there's two obstacles, there's two bombs on your property, the real one, and the one in your head that's making you stress out.

So, even though this is a real stressor and not an imagined one, and you can't make it go away by breathing deep and meditating, it doesn't change the fact that if you let it get the better of you, then you can still overreact.
That's why we had people panic-buying toilet paper and canned food, they were freaking the hell out and overreacting to a danger, and actually making things worse; because the people who could buy 12 bags of toilet paper were really screwing over the people who could only buy 1, and now can't buy any.
That's why we have people claiming that China bio-engineered this virus, or people claiming that there's a secret vaccine in America or that this is all an elaborate Jewish hoax (yes, people really are blaming the Jews for this, bigots and conspiracy theorists are close bedfellows), it was because people are scared at the idea of random and unforeseen viruses mutating and killing thousands of people, so they wanted to know that someone was in control, that someone could have predicted this; but this made things worse because it was dividing people and dehumanizing, rather than concerning ourselves with how to stop the spread, and help the people who have already been infected.

This is not to say that you're not allowed to be anxious, or stressed. It's a healthy, rational and human response to this to feel a bit scared. I'm not better than you, or more logical/rational just because I am not worried - I just have more practice at dealing with stress, because I'm at a higher risk of my own anxiety. So, you can feel stressed, but if you are starting to feel depressed, frightened, or worst of all panicked, please sit down and take a deep, deep breath - deep into the bottom of your lungs, then breath out (just be aware, if you do this four or more times, you can feel lightheaded); and take a moment to not just notice, but fully realize and be conscious of where you are, live in the present moment and not your fears of the future, since worrying about the "could be" is a great way to ignore the "right now".
Right now, you're home, or reading this on your phone somewhere, most likely isolated from friends. Why not spend some time with family, call your mate, maybe give that facetime thing a go - call your grandparents, they're probably scared, and would like to catch up. Or, if you know anyone in isolation, or who is at high risk, give them a call. It's a fact that it's not only easier, but therapeutic, to help someone else that's stressed than it is to help yourself when stressed.
It's not about distracting yourself from the worry; because that's a bad habit, you should identify what worries you, but don't just think about it, talk about it and help each other. If you don't know the answer, then ask someone who might, don't just assume you're lost and alone. Or, if you don't want to talk about it, then don't mire in your own fears - get up and do something productive, even if that's just having a laugh, tidying or disinfecting your house, or playing a boardgame. Or, if you can manage to, why not look around to see if there's anyone around you that's struggling, and see if you can help (from a safe distance, of course).
There's a lot that you can do, but we're all blind to it if you're too busy worrying about the landmine to disarm it...

Anyway, that's all from me today, I hope it helps. I'm the Absurd Word Nerd, and until next time, if you're still feeling stressed please leave me a comment and I'll do my best to respond.

Outbreak Diary - Day 001

The Facts in the Case of Australia's Coronavirus Outbreak

I write a lot of fiction on this blog - I even attempted some unfiction/nosleepypasta at one point, which was fiction but pretended otherwise. But, let me be clear, this is not fiction, this is the truth about what is happening in Australia - and in cases where I don't know the truth, I will do my best to be fully open about that. A lot is happening, but it feels like a lot of people are out of the loop on this one. So, I wanted to write this to try to inform people about some of the stuff that they don't currently know, and try to explain this virus, as well as disperse some of the misinformation which is being circulated during these times of confusion.

My name is Matthew Aaron John Anderson, I live in Queensland in the Greater Brisbane Area - the date is the 23rd of March 2020 (a Monday), and the time is 4:32 am, as I begin writing this.

I don't know too much about the beginning, but here's what I can piece together from the very start of this pandemic, based on what I've seen in the news, and the research I've done. Most people have heard of the SARS - Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, it's a pretty nasty disease, which caused thousands of deaths of South Chinese people between November 2002 and July 2003.
It's a disease which has flu-like symptoms - fever, muscle pain, coughing, sore throat and lethargy. This can lead to shortness of breath, pneumonia and other nonspecific symptoms.
But, the important fact in this case is that this Syndrome is a disease which is caused by a virus, specifically the SARS-CoV, which is to say the SARS Coronavirus.

What is a "Coronavirus"?

See, a coronavirus is a kind of virus which, under the microscope looks kind of like a children's "soft thorn ball" [Author's Note: I always called them nipple balls (they look like nipples to me), but you know, these things: link], basically, a sphere covered in evenly spaced studs.
Now, the difference between a virus and most other living things, like cells, amoeba or bacteria is that viruses can't self-replicate - they can't recreate themselves on their own, by sexual reproduction, parthenogenesis, or just splitting in half like some cells do. The way that they can continue to survive and spread is by finding a living cell which has DNA, and injecting it with their own RNA, so that it basically tricks the host cell into replicating the virus for it.
That's why the coronavirus looks the way it does - a ball covered in little studs - actually, let's get technical, they're actually called peplomers, or viral glycoprotein spikes. These viral spikes have developed to attach or fuse to host cell membranes, and then inject their genome payload.
It's not a perfect analogy, but it works kind of like a cuckoo bird - which lays its giant egg in the nest of another bird, and pushes the mother bird's own eggs out of the nest in the process. Except instead of a nest, it's the cells of your body, and instead of an egg, it's a coronavirus.
Or, if you're a geek, think of it like a vampire. Since the virus is undead (using that term loosely), it can't reproduce, so it reproduces by biting "mortal" cells, and making them into vampires as well, so they can then go on and bite more.

The reason this makes us sick is because when a cell is busy being a virus, or helping to replicate and perpetuate a virus, it can't continue to be the healthy cell it was. So, if a virus managed to infect your eyes, then it would break down the biology of your eye, and you'd go blind. If a virus managed to infect your brain, then you'd have neurological issues as your brain lost functioning parts. Or, in this case of SARS, as this affects your lung tissue most readily, it means that you would struggle to breath as your lungs become less "lung" and more "coronavirus".

But, why am I talking about SARS? Well, because viruses work by seizing healthy cells to replicate, it means that like everything else in the world, as those cells replicate, they can mutate and evolve. SARS virus, whilst being very effectively managed in human populations, it was still around in other animals, such as bats - in fact specifically bats, as virologists have determined that a mutation of the SARS virus, known as the "2019 novel coronavirus", or "SARS-CoV-2" is genetically similar to SARS viruses found in bats. As this disease mutated, it became much more virulent - now, the exact details of this aren't certain, but it is believed that this virulent form found in bats was spread to pangolins in Wuhan, China.
A pangolin is a mammal closely related to armadillos and sloths, it's also known as a "scaly anteater", and it looks kind of cute, but the important thing is, it's endemic to China, which is where SARS-CoV-2 first managed to transfer from bats, and into the human population, in late 2019. Which is what is causing the Coronavirus Disease of 2019, which is why we're calling this disease COVID-19.

Which, on a bit of a lighter note, is a shame. With just the slightest of tweaks, we could have been calling this "Bat Flu", which I think sounds cooler and rolls off the tongue better, but when people started calling this disease "Wuhan Coronavirus" or "The Chinese Virus", the health officials in charge decided to nip the racist connotations of that in the bud, and stick to the official designation "COVID-19"
- this is why we can't have nice things.

[Author's Note: Whilst I personally blame xenophobia on the spread of "Chinese Virus" as a term, apparently the World Health Organization has guidelines and regulations for this - in fact they have a report titled "World Health Organization best practices for the naming of new human infectious diseases" (2015) - which discourages the use of location names, as well as encourages attempts to avoid confusion with prior viruses. This is why it's not called "SARS 2", even though that's basically the virus's name (SARS-CoV-2) - so that people can differentiate between the two more easily.]

Why is this virus different from Influenza/SARS/Common Cold/etc?

I'm going to go into more detail, but long-story short: it can kill more people.

Now, whilst this disease is not going to wipe out the whole world, and all things told, the death toll appears to be about 4% of infected - so if 100 random people were infected, approximately four should die - that's not too bad all told.
However, as I mentioned above, this virus mutated from the SARS found in bats, and two of those mutations are very relevant. I'm not a biologist or virologist, so I can't explain the mechanism, but in layman's terms:

1. This disease has an incubation period of 2-14 days, from the time of infection, to the onset of physical symptoms.
• This means infected persons felt healthy, despite coming into contact with the virus, so they wouldn't realize they were carrying and spreading the disease until 2 weeks later. Initial carriers were effectively "viral sleeper agents", heading home and socializing as normal, spreading the disease.
  This is how the disease managed to spread internationally - people who felt fine were travelling around the world before realizing they were spreading the disease.
2. There are no known effective antiviral medications or vaccines available for the disease at this time, as it didn't exist until recently.
• This is to say, because this new subspecies of SARS virus mutated only recently, November 2019 at the very earliest (but maybe December 2019) this species of virus is at most, only 4 months old (at time of writing). That is why this was called a "novel virus", essentially this is a newborn, we don't know how it behaves, we don't know what it's strengths and weaknesses are. It's only in the last month that we seemed to confirm that the main form of transmission was respiratory droplets, so we're scrambling to learn as much as we can.

At the moment, if you contract coronavirus, the treatment is symptomatic not etiological - that is to say, we can only treat the side-effects of the disease, not the cause. We can only effectively manage your symptoms (such as fever, joint aches, sore throat & coughing), to make you comfortable and healthy, so that your immune system can do the rest.
If we use that vampire metaphor - we can't actually kill the vampires, so instead we're trying to make the rest of the town strong enough to withstand the attack, and stop more people getting bitten, until the vampires all die of thirst.

This is why this disease is as deadly as it is. If your immune system isn't strong enough to do the rest - to fight off the virus - then you will die. This is why you may have heard about people who are "high risk" of this disease - which is to say that you have a higher risk of death, debilitation or severe illness, if you contract this disease. So, you are considered to face increased risk if you have:

• Advanced Age (especially 60 years or older)
• Breathing Difficulty
• Diabetes
• Heart Disease
• Hypertension
• Respiratory Disease (i.e. Asthma)
• A Compromised Immune System

This should not be confused with people who are "at risk" of contracting the disease. In Australia, this includes people who have travelled to an area with high community transmission, such as the areas in China, Italy, the Phillipines; and those caring for sufferers of this virus (including nurses and those assisting people in self-isolation).

Now, a regular influenza isn't fun, in fact people do die every Cold & Flu Season, but the difference is that your average flu has an incubation of about 2-4 days which means it burns through you pretty quickly, and you'll feel the symptoms pretty quickly meaning you can call a sick day (effectively self-isolating), and you'll get over it quick and harmlessly, since medications are available. Also, people who are high risk cam simply get vaccinated. So, it's unlikely that one person can spread this to hundreds of people in a short amount of time - but it does spread slowly enough that the Common Cold never dies out (which is why it's so common). So, you may infect two or three people, but if any of you take care not to spread it, then you limit the spread significantly, from little to none.

But, the way this virus works, because there's no medications and it incubates for so long, if we just ignore it then literally everyone will get sick, and everyone will get sick very quickly - it's a concept known as exponential growth. I don't know the exact numbers for this virus, so let's use an example:

Let's say we have a hypothetical disease called "Two Flu", (because one person will infect 1 other person in a day, meaning it doubles)
Let's see how this would play out:
Day 01: Patient Zero is infected - 1 person is infected with Two Flu
Day 02: Patient Zero infects his friend - 2 people have Two Flu.
Day 03: Patient Zero and friend both infect a person each - 4 people are infected.
It would start off small, but as it effectively doubles each time. it grows quickly...
Day 10: Just over a week has passed - 512 people are now infected with Two Flu.
     . . .
Day 20: Almost 3 weeks have gone by - 524,288 people are infected.
     . . .
Day 30: Approximately 1 month passes - 536,870,912 people are infected.
And that's not all - according to the best numbers we have, there are approximately seven and a half billion people on earth, 7,500,000,000 - meaning...
Day 34, Two Flu has spread across the globe - Every single person is infected.

Thankfully, "Two Flu" is harmless, because it's fictional... but Coronavirus isn't harmless, and it is virulent enough that it can reach exponential growth - and already has in some countries. Now, whilst COVID-19 isn't as fast as the fictional "Two Flu", we've seen cases of it double (from 500 to 1,000, in one case) in as little as 3 days, and in some cases increasing by thousands in as much as a week. That's not as fast as doubling daily, but that's still alarmingly fast. At this rate, the entire world could be infected before Christmas. That's why it's such a concern.

And while the average death rate is 4% now, that's based on the whole numbers, but if you break it down by demographics:
people aged 80 or older who become infected have a 14.8%-21.9% chance of dying
infected people aged 70-79 have an 8% chance of dying
infected people aged 60-69 have a 3.6% chance.
infected people aged 50-59 have a 1.3% chance of dying
anyone younger than 50 has less than a 1% chance (0.2%-0,4%)
Except 0-9 year olds, which thus far have had zero fatalities*

*note that at time of writing, there have been less than 10 cases of people aged 9 years old or less contracting the COVID-19 virus. So, although they currently have a 0% chance of death, the sample size for that group is too low for useful data. This doesn't mean they're at risk, simply that we don't have enough information to say whether they are or not.

How am I supposed to deal with COVID-19?

Well, step one is to remain informed, and act reasonably and rationally. I had a read through some of the common misconceptions, and deliberate misinformation, regarding this virus, and it is ridiculous. Unfortunately, politicians and even major news outlets have occasionally posted misinformation, or presented it in the form of scaremongering. Some of it is excusable, but most of it is not.
In a later post, I may discuss some of the misconceptions, but for now rather than confronting falsehoods, I want to simply present you with some truth. So, if you want to prevent the spread of this disease:

1. Wash Your Hands often, with Soap and Water, for 20 seconds, especially after visiting a public place, going to the toilet, blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing; and before eating or touching on or around your eyes, mouth and nose.

See, this virus, although it's hard to see, it's still a physical organism, and the membrane that makes up its skin (also called the viral envelope) is composed of protein and fat. This is how it travels through respiratory droplets, the surface tension of the oil allows it to float in water, and that oily surface can also stick to skin until the viral spikes can find a cell to penetrate. However, soap has amphiphilic molecules - which means molecules which stick to both oil and water, allowing them to mix rather than separate. So, if soap comes into contact with the membrane of a COVID-19 coronavirus, it literally breaks apart, just like wet tissue paper. Of course, this process isn't immediate, it takes about 20 seconds (so a simple rinse and wipe isn't good enough). Also, once you break apart the virus, the water helps to wash its eviscerated corpse down the sink. And most hand sanitizers work, since ethanol is also amphiphilic, and that tends to be the active ingredient in hand sanitizers. But, just to be safe, you should read the ingredients and make sure that the sanitizer is at least 60% ethyl alcohol.
Since I'm having fun with my virus metaphor, think of these like sunlight to the vampires, breaking them down to ashes... but unable to reach them once they get inside.
Oh, and before you ask - although soap can kill the virus, the reason why we can't use soap to heal people who are already infected is that soap is safe on your skin, but it's deadly if it gets into your body. If you want to know more, look up "soap poisoning", but I warn you, it can get pretty grisly.
2. Maintain Good Personal Hygiene in General, including cleaning and disinfecting objects and surfaces which you touch regularly.
This matters because this virus can survive for some time outside of the body and disinfecting places that people touch prevents it from spreading. But, even if you don't have any infected persons around your house, it's useful to keep clean and healthy, because a compromised immune system puts you at greater risk - and having a pre-existing illness such as the common cold, food poisoning or the flu is one way to compromise your immune system.
3. Practice Social Distancing (of approximately 150cm), from those who have contracted, are at risk of contracting the virus; as well as those whose health you cannot guarantee, or those who are in the high risk category.
I've seen a lot of people joking about "social distance", since it's a funny concept, and refering to "no touching" rules as social distancing sounds like the same kind of unintuitive backwards-brained political correctness that leads to calling lies "alternative facts". Now, I can't speak for the person who came up with the term, but I think part of the issue is that people are inferring "social distance" to mean "a distance which is considered social", as opposed to what it is meant to imply which is "distancing during social activities".
Another issue is that people aren't sure when this rule should apply, as (for instance) a car rarely has enough space to sit a metre and a half apart. Are there times when social distance is okay to ignore? Can we hug our parents and children? Can we kiss our loved ones? Am I really going to get sick if I stand too close to a stranger?
The fact is, this rule exists for people whom we know have the virus, and so the rule isn't necessary, and can be ignored, when we know that both we and the person in question don't have the virus. However, because these are still early days, there is a huge grey area of "people who we don't know if they have the virus or not". And for those people you should still keep your distance, just in case, because that way it ensures nobody is at risk of sharing the virus.
So, are you sick? is your child sick? Has your partner contracted this illness? Has anyone in your family gone overseas, particularly to the epicenters of this virus? If not, then please, I implore you to hug and kiss your loved ones - with consent, of course.
In fact, my mother has a theory that with everyone being cooped up inside, there's a good chance we'll have a second baby boom, and I am conditionally in consensus with that hypothesis, but we will see...
4. If You are Infected with Coronavirus, Isolate Yourself, avoiding all physical contact with other people, staying home if possible. This includes staying away from hospitals and doctors, contacting them by phone when necessary, and if you require further care and need to visit a doctor, call them ahead of time.
This is one of the most important guidelines. You must avoid coming into close contact with anyone and everyone. This may not be possible in all cases, but it is necessary to avoid the spread of this disease. Of course, this isn't easy or fun, but that's why it's better to avoid getting sick than it is to isolate yourself after getting sick.

Wow, it's taken a long time to write this... several hours have passed as I've written and researched this, so now it's after midday, which means that here in Australia, we've now officially locked down several places where large groups of people would gather:

• All Social Venues (i.e. Nightclubs, Casinos, Cinemas, etc.)
• Some Sports Venues (i.e. Gyms & Stadiums)
• Most Licensed Venues (i.e. Hotels, Clubs, Pubs; but excluding retail bottle shops and accommodation within hotels, motels, etc.)
• All Places of Worship (i.e. Churches, Temples, Mosques, etc.)
• All Dine-in & Table Service Hospitality Venues (i.e. Restaurants, Cafés, Bistros; but only for dining in, and such businesses are permitted to still serve food in the form of delivery, drive-thru or take-away)

Keep in mind, based on what The Prime Minister said last night, all these places are going to stay locked down for the next 6 months.

That being the case, it means I still haven't really answered the question - how is everyone supposed to deal with such strict regulations in place, and all these rules to follow, for six whole months?
Well, easy - do what I'm doing. I write as a kind of hobby, do you have a hobby? I figured keeping a diary of these times would be interesting. I won't write every day, but I thought this could help keep me busy. If you can't work from home, you can also watch TV, do chores around the house or relax, so long as you make sure to exercise - whether that means an exercise routine, or just going for a walk, you need to stay active (so long as you keep a social distance, you can exercise outside). And, most importantly, make sure that you call people and stay in touch. We're a social species, so we need to socialize a little for our mental health, and although you shouldn't visit friends and family, you can still contact them with all kinds of telephonic technology and social media.
I don't know about you, but I have a whole bookshelf of books that need reading, so I'm going to read a book, and of course do some writing. Oh, and try to stop touching your face. I don't know about you, but I rub my eyes all the time. Not only is it a bad habit, but it's risky in these viral times...

I'm the Absurd Word Nerd, trying to keep everyone, including myself, as informed as I can during this pandemic. Until Next Time, be careful out there, don't panic & stay informed.