Wash Your Hands

Having fun with thermometers

While walking by the local banh mi shop at the end of my busy street on my way to the market this sunny February morning, I waved to the family who serves me my morning sandwiches as they were eating an early lunch: All five of them, mom, dad, two kids and plump baby on mom’s lap. But when I walked back from the market, the older kids were gone and mom and dad were taking each other’s temperature with an infrared thermometer gun. I stopped, surprised, and they gestured to me that they would be happy to take my temperature with their new toy. I laughed and walked on, realizing that here was a new normal, infrared thermometers, just like we now use at school, in our new morning routine as we enter our second week of distance-learning.  

How it started

Why this sudden interest in thermometers? I live in Vietnam which borders China. Since December 2019, China has been struggling to contain a virus outbreak that started in Wuhan, a city in the middle of the county. Officials think the virus, Novel Coronavirus, called novel because it’s brand new, and corona because of its round shape, started in the animal market in that large city of 11 million people. According to Tina Hesman Saey in the article Explainer: CoronaVirus, from sciencenewsforstudents.org,  it’s possible the virus first affected bats, then jumped to snakes, and was then contracted by humans through eating wild animals at a market in Wuhan. Although the coronavirus is usually just responsible for colds, this is the third time in 18 years that the virus has jumped from animal to human. Other viruses that have created the same degree of concern are MERS and SARS, both of which are dangerous to people with immune difficulties. 

What are the symptoms/How to protect yourself

The symptoms are cough, fever and breathing difficulties. Because the virus attaches to the cells outside of the lungs, viral pneumonia can set in. Anthony Fauci of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the US says that this is “a disease that causes more lung disease than sniffles.” The fact that it’s a virus means that antibacterial drugs are useless and doctors can only treat symptoms, not prevent the virus at this time. 

To protect yourself you should practice good hygiene: Wash your hands after you’ve been outdoors, in the toilet, or on public transportation. Sneeze into the crook of your elbow and wash your hands after you finish, and avoid close contact with people with flu-like symptoms. Masks cannot protect you from the virus, but certainly won’t hurt, although many governments are warning of shortages if people buy an excessive number of masks. 

 For me

I miss my students. Teaching at a computer is lonely. One of my yoga studios is closed and classes are very full at the other, and I don’t like being that close to people when I’m sweating. People seem more on edge and a bit fearful. I think the way the school is handling the outbreak is great, but I’ll be glad when life returns to normal. Here’s a video if you want more information. 

 

25 thoughts on “Wash Your Hands

  1. I think it is important to stay clean and safe because the number of people who got infected is pretty high. Be aware by just wearing mask if you’re going outside everyday, using hand sanitizer, avoiding dirty places.

  2. “Prevention is better than cure.” So the best way is to keep a good hygiene with soap or hand sanitizer. Beside that, we have to increase the immune system by taking Vitamin C and doing exercises. If our immune system is good, the chances of getting Coronavirus infection will be low.

  3. This virus was started because of eating food. Therefore, I think that we should be careful about what we eat and we should choose the save resources to buy and good, clean and credibility to eat.

    1. But it’s not from eating regular food—and now it’s moved from animals to humans, so how do we protect ourselves from other humans?

  4. There are many ways to protect us from the ncov and washing our hand is one of the most important way but what if one day you touch a person that has the virus in their body and accidently forgot to wash your hand. Wear mask and washing hand are the good way but in my opinion I think we also need to protect our eyes too.

    1. Hi Dave, I think the point of a mask is so that we don’t touch our mouth and nose and spread the disease that way. How can we protect our eyes? Find out for me if that’s a real issue. (Yayyy, Dave’s in the house!)

  5. You should be careful and don’t go to somewhere that too crowded and sometime you should avoid eating street food too and don’t forget to wear mask while going outside

  6. This coronavirus is very dangerous. I suggest you stay in your house, prepare a mask box and hand sanitizer as a precaution

  7. I think washing hands every day is one of the great things to protect you from the coronavirus. Also, I think you need to pay more attention to foods, you should eat more nutrients and take vitamins to make your body healthier. I hope that you will take care of your health in this time.

  8. Placing next to China can be a huge disadvantage, the way the coronaviruses spread out in China can easily repeat to us. I think we should prepare enough knowledge about this virus and stay away from crowded to keep us safe. Simultaneously, we must wear masks and go to the hospital in case we feel uncomfortable.

  9. Coronavirus is really dangerous, it can be spread through people during incubation, it will be difficult to know if the contact you are sick with, I think to restrict to the street and wearing a mask on public places. I see a lot of notice boards outside to show how to prevent this outbreak

  10. As I know, lots of families in China amid fears that animals could catch coronavirus, so they killed their pets by dropping them from the high buildings. But as of now, there is no evidence that domestic pets are infected with the corona nCoV 2019 virus.

    – Serenity

    1. However, we should still wash our hands with soap and water after coming in contact with pets. Because that is how to protect us from bacteria like E.Coli, Samonella that are usually transmitted from pets to humans.

    2. Is that true. I heard that as well, but I don’t know if it’s a verifiable source. Can you share that source with me?

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