Skip to content
Confidently Katie
Menu
  • About
  • Contact
  • Disclosure & Privacy Policy
  • Links
Menu

What I’ve Learned from the Coronavirus Situation…so far

Posted on March 8, 2020March 8, 2020 by Katie Post

If you are an inhabitant of planet earth, chances are, you’ve heard about the Coronavirus (according to WHO the disease is officially called COVID-19 and the virus is called SARS-CoV-2) but just in case you haven’t heard of it the basic gist is that it’s a novel outbreak of a type of virus called a coronavirus that has traveled across the world since its discovery in late 2019. Here’s a WHO Situation Report from March 7th that explains a bit about how many people this has affected and where the virus has been detected. Sitreps are coming out daily with updates on new recent learnings and affected populations etc.

I decided that this was worthy of writing about today because this outbreak has caused mass hysteria in the media and across the US (and probably the world, but I’ll speak for myself as a US resident). A lot of people are very scared of this virus and as a result have been preparing for the worst. As the weeks pass and the situation seems to worsen and I’ve been reflecting a lot on what I’ve learned from it.

1// My family’s hand washing routine is probably leaving something to be desired

There aren’t a lot of things that a person can do to protect against this virus, but one thing that can help is hand washing. Truth be told, a good hand washing routine isn’t just important for a pandemic…it’s important for the flu season, and for newborns, and for safe food handling, and for…general hygiene.

What we’re doing about it: We’re reading up on the CDC’s handwashing recommendations and we’re implementing them. Forever. Not just in light of the coronavirus, but just to be generally more hygienic people. We’re singing songs at the sink to make sure we wash for long enough, and we’re washing more often.

2// Our disaster preparedness plan is virtually non-existent

Listen, I am not the person buying all the toilet paper, purell, and clorox that money can buy…but I am reviewing what WHO recommends doing to prepare in case we shouldn’t leave our homes, or if there is a need to close public places. Or if there is an earthquake. Or if there’s a freak tornado that rips through our valley. Or if there is a terrible snow storm that has us inside for days. Or if we lose power. Ya’ll…I have nothing.

What we’re doing about it: First I’ll tell you what I’m NOT doing. I’m not running to my nearest wholesale store and buying up random canned goods or toilet paper. I’m also not buying bottled water. But I am reevaluating the state of our pantry, assessing our cold and flu supplies, keeping my car fueled to a half tank or more, I bought a few more non-perishable food items that don’t require fresh foods to make (but I didn’t go overboard!) and I read up on some recommendations specifically for the coronavirus. We’re also just looking at our plan in general and we’re going to make some changes (not today..but soon.)

3// Panicking isn’t going to help anyone

I am not panicking. Even as a pregnant woman who may or may not be in a more vulnerable populations…I’m not scared. But it’s hard to stay that way when the media is painting a very grim picture. I’ve seen several influencers spreading fear and panic. It doesn’t help. It makes people do crazy things like buy dust masks and enough toilet paper to wipes all the butts of the world for a year. It’s only making things worse and causing shortages for people who actually need this stuff.

What we’re doing about it: I’m staying alert and informed. I’m reading WHO and CDC recommendations. I’m consuming content from other sources like Dr. Mike, a doctor on youtube you who is sharing regular updates on the virus as he learns more about the virus. But most importantly, my family is not panicking. We’re also listing to recommendations like I mentioned above, practicing some social distancing, not touching hands as much as possible, and finding peace in the fact that approximately 80% of the people who have contracted the virus have survived.

What have you learned from this whole crazy situation? Are you doing anything you might not have otherwise? I want to hear all about it.

2 thoughts on “What I’ve Learned from the Coronavirus Situation…so far”

  1. Jason Christensen says:
    March 11, 2020 at 8:03 pm

    Is this worse than anthrax?
    Is it a biological weapon created by the Chinese to stop Hong Kong protestors and impeach Trump?
    Where do I store all this toilet paper?

    Reply
    1. katienay says:
      March 13, 2020 at 4:51 am

      :O I mean, I have some conspiracy theories, but I mostly don’t want to give the virus to my medically fragile diabetic sisters and dad (+he’s near 60 and has other health complications).

      As for the toilet paper, you could probably store it at my house. That is one thing I did not stock up on, so I could use it if you don’t have room. hahaha

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hi I'm Katie; Photo of Katie, Corey, and Clara

Hi there! I'm Katie!
I'm a wife to Corey, a mom to Clara & Carter, and just Katie to most everyone else. Here I write about things like my misadventures in motherhood, how bad I am at cleaning, and how I survive our day to day life!

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

Archives

©2021 Confidently Katie | Built using WordPress and Responsive Blogily theme by Superb
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

SAVE & ACCEPT