Why I'm not scared of Coronavirus

Jackie hoping a mask will protect her from Godzilla (background, too blurry to make out)
in Shinjuku, Tokyo on March 2, 2019.

For the past six weeks, we have been inundated with news from across the globe on the development of the new pandemic - the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. Every single day, I'm stepping out to get the morning paper (yep - still get paper delivery in 2020!) and reading big bold headlines across the top that are enough to terrify anyone. In fact, as I write this blog post, this is the current headline splashed across the Toronto Star's website:

Three new novel coronavirus cases confirmed in GTA, bringing Ontario total to 11

The scale of fright keeps getting upped every day. Each news outlet is dedicating countless hours to "what if's" - imagining the possible worst case scenarios and advising people to avoid all travel - including domestic - and to start stockpiling food in their homes. 

Before I start, I do want to express that by no means am I downplaying the current situation in China, Japan and just recently, Iran. That's absolutely devastating, and how it got out of control like that to begin with is just mind-boggling. Individuals in those regions have to take every precaution possible to protect themselves and limit the spread of this nasty - and quite often, deadly - illness. 

But the Canadian and American media is turning the fear factor notch up by 1000 per cent. For example, 11 cases in a province with a total population of over 14 million? Really? The risk to the public in Canada and the United States remains extremely low. Even if that number quadrupled, it would still be low, especially when considering that 44 Toronto-area people died of SARS back in 2003. But when SARS made the rounds, social media didn't exist yet. Facebook was -1 years old and most of our news was still consumed via TV, radio and newspapers. The term 'clickbait' wasn't a thing and headlines were more based on facts and less on emotions. 

Do we need to take precautions to protect against the virus? Absolutely. But shouldn't we already be doing that against viruses in general? We're in the home stretch of flu season and yet do you see anyone freaking out about the possibility of dying from the flu? 

Personally, I'd rate my fear of COVID-19 at about a two out of 10. Yes, I am one of those individuals who could easily be on death's doorstep if I caught it. But here's the thing: any illness I get - even a simple head cold - can morph into pneumonia for me. Every single sniffle I experience can present a risk to my cardiopulmonary health. And plain old influenza - which as mentioned above is everywhere right now - can kill me, and is much more likely to kill me than coronavirus. 

So the sudden level of vigilance that everyone is now wanting to adhere to? Well folks, that's my everyday life. This changes nothing for me. 

As a young child who spent more time in the hospital battling pneumonia than I did at home doing normal kid things, I was kept away from germs as much as humanly possible. When my father got home from work, he would change his clothes immediately because he had been on public transit. I wasn't allowed to play in ball pits or playgrounds with other children because of the risk of catching something (this might explain why I suddenly discovered the McDonald's PlayPlace at age 27 and then got stuck in one of the slides). I didn't go to movies. I didn't ride on buses or subways. When chickenpox made the rounds in my kindergarten class, I was kept out of school for six whole weeks because catching it would have been deadly. And I got my first flu shot at the age of five in 1989. I've had it every winter since and have never contracted more than a mild flu.  

Unfortunately, there is no vaccine for coronavirus at the current time which does make it a bit scarier, but at the same time a total of 42,291 cases of influenza were recorded across Canada between August 26, 2019 and February 8, 2020. Of those cases, 74 people have died. By contrast, there are currently 20 coronavirus cases across the entire country and no deaths. While that number is likely to rise, the flu still poses a much greater risk. And plain old, normal pneumonia is even scarier. Two of my coworkers in a 23-person office have had severe cases of pneumonia this winter, with one of the two having to be hospitalized. And let me tell you - a recent sinus infection I caught had me on high alert to ensure it didn't turn into pneumonia. I piled on the inhalers and any meds I could to prevent the worst-case scenario. 

It's actually really easy if you want to protect yourself from coronavirus and it doesn't even require you to wear a mask. So far, most of the person-to-person transmission of the bug has been close contact, such as between family members who are living together. So here's what you do:

1. Try to stay away from others who are sick and try to avoid sharing items with them

2. Don't touch your face, especially if you're on public transit

3. Cough and sneeze into the crook of your elbow

4. WASH YOUR HANDS!!!!

If you're suddenly terrified of catching coronavirus, welcome to my reality of the past 35 years. Unlike in the above photo, I've put away my leftover masks from Japan. They actually won't help me or anyone else anyway. 

In the meantime, I'll be nervously watching the stock market instead.