Knowledge is power on COVID battlefield
A year after the coronavirus first emerged in China, we have learned a lot about how COVID-19 manifests in humans, but more importantly, we know how people haplessly transmit the disease.
Blame pandemic fatigue, political partisanship, social nihilism or sheer ignorance, but people worldwide are ignoring the best scientific evidence and spreading a potentially fatal illness. Some political leaders are locking down their populations; others do nothing.
A new study argues for a middle path, which is often the right answer in these situations but is always difficult to execute.
To understand why a total lockdown is not the best idea, let’s start with what the University of Southern California calls the five most critical COVID-19 lessons so far.
Lesson One: Airborne virus particles in enclosed spaces are the primary threat. Every time someone with the virus
breathes, thousands of virus particles float around them. If you breathe in enough particles, you will contract the disease and become a walking, talking virus factory.
Masks hinder the virus’s circulation, and standing 6 feet apart prevents people from inhaling each other’s exhaust. Outdoors, virus particles disperse in the breeze or disintegrate from exposure to sunlight.
Lesson Two: Historically marginalized groups are hit the hardest. Statistics show Black, Hispanic and impoverished people are more likely to contract the disease and suffer severe consequences.
These are the people who do the low-paying, essential jobs that keep hospitals, grocery stores and other critical businesses open. These are also jobs that rarely offer health insurance, which means many of these workers have untreated, chronic illnesses that amplify the disease.
Lesson Three: COVID-19 is more complex and lasts longer than initially thought. The coronavirus is much more harmful than the flu, and severe cases can cause lifelong disabilities. Of all the lessons, this is the least appreciated.
Some experts consider COVID-19 a disease of the blood vessels. Breathing issues are the most common symptom, but other symptoms can show up in any part of the body, including your brain.
Lesson Four: Testing is not a replacement for common-sense precautions. The White House believed that testing would detect the virus before someone could infect the president. The result was a Rose Garden ceremony that became a superspreader event.
Testing for the virus is imperfect. False negatives are common if the test was not conducted properly.
Lesson Five: Masks protect everyone. Epidemiologists made their biggest blunder when they told people not to wear masks. To be fair, the coronavirus was not well understood, and health care personnel needed the few masks available, but the message was wrong.
Today, we know that masks slow the dispersal of virus particles and that if another person also wears a mask, it will slow their inhalation of the virus. Everyone should wear a mask when they are within 6 feet of someone from outside their household.
Making sure everyone understands and acknowledges those five facts is the best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19, according to new research from the Medical University of Vienna and published in Nature Human Behavior. Most people make smart decisions when armed with accurate information.
Nine experts examined more than 6,000 government interventions in 79 territories to understand what worked best in slowing COVID-19 transmission. National lockdowns were the most effective, but a detailed analysis found less draconian measures were almost as good.
Lockdowns should “be seen as the ‘nuclear option’ of nonpharmaceutical interventions: highly effective but causing substantial collateral damages to society, the economy, trade and human rights,” the authors wrote.
Accurate, widely distributed information about how the disease works and the risks of infection will dramatically slow transmission. Territories that also provided financial assistance and job guarantees to people who became infected were able to slow the spread almost as well as a total lockdown.
If every elected official and corporate leader had spoken frankly and truthfully about the pandemic from the beginning, we might not have the second wave we are experiencing now. If every business took the five lessons to heart and adapted accordingly, they could save the economy and many lives.
Unfortunately, President Donald Trump provided misinformation and politicized the pandemic. Too many people now reject the latest science and end up spreading the disease. Democratic leaders who insist on lockdowns have alienated too many people legitimately more worried about their incomes than their health.
Surveys show employees trust their managers more than politicians to provide accurate information.
Every boss should take the opportunity to promote the truth and protect employees and customers, because our elected leaders are failing us and our lives depend on it.