Covid 19 and social media

The pandemic of the Coronavirus.  I should have journaled better.  I am certain this will be placed in history books and the findings and results studied by all for how to deal with something similar in the future.

Two weeks ago, life was pretty normal in the United States.  We knew there was a virus in China, we saw reports, it was becoming global.  We had an open house on Saturday to find tenants for our home, we signed the lease with the couple we chose on Sunday and Sunday night Governor Newsom announced everything would be shut down for 2 weeks except for essentials.

Later that night, a letter was sent out to dentists stating they recommended shut down their offices for 2 weeks to preserve masks and help slow the spread for all non-urgent needs.  Everyone interpreted that differently.  Danny felt like he needed to shut down for 2 weeks because that is really what they were asked to do.  Other dentists didn't shut down which we totally get.  He felt bad that he shut down and most didn't and questioned if he made the right call but ultimately knew it was the responsible thing to do.  Within a day or two patients were cancelling and almost all dentists weren't seeing patients except emergencies.

So we had two weeks at home.  It was nice having Danny home.  We rarely have time together.  It has been blah weather so that has been hard but we have managed to do a lot of bike rides and walks around the golf course.  The schools give out lunches to the community so we ride 3 miles to get lunch and would hang out in the park to eat our lunch.  We would go to our little corner away from people.  The boys would all have wheelie contests.  Other families would go to their little corner and so forth.  Well, eventually parks got closed.  I started to run for 30 minutes each morning.  The streets are pretty bare.  The parks eventually got closed down. The tennis courts got closed down.  Being outside, going on bike rides, walks, etc all are encouraged as long as you keep your social distance but the majority of people don't go out.

EXCEPT to the stores!  This is the craziest thing of all. The stores, whether it is safeway, costco, home goods, ace, home depot are PACKED!  Packed with people until the afternoon when nobody is there.  Every day for about 2 weeks when we went by Safeway it was packed.  That is when I realized this whole quarantine is a joke.  They shut down open space because they are crowded, they shut down parks where the majority of people really are social distancing but you keep just a couple stores open where the masses congregate.  So lets say 5 asymptomatic people go the enclosed store everyday. Those people pass it on and it keeps going and going and going.

Trump says he wants the economy to be able to recover and people to go back to work in a couple of weeks.  The next day Newsom says he think he will extend the shelter in place til mid june.  Coincidence, maybe.  Heidi's thoughts, this has become way too much of a political fight.  A political divide and that is probably the last thing our society needs yet more and more what politics are becoming and I think a lot of it is that everyone has instant access to what people say, how people react, etc.  I am not saying I agree or disagree with either of them because I have no idea what the best form of action is, but I think Newsom's decision was altered by Trump.  I am sure people will disagree, but that is my black/white brain.

Not saying it is wrong how we are doing things because technically I guess that will slow the spread in some ways, but it will just prolong for a VERY long time in my opinion.  I have my theories and opinions just like the rest of the world.  I don't think our society can just shut down the economy for months but do feel like we should try our best to wash hands and social distance if we can.  I feel like statistics are so skewed based on what you want to prove.

You read an article about how much California is slowing the spread and you see the number of cases being diagnosed going down.  But guess what, California isn't testing people.  We receive letters from our hospitals telling us unless you are classified by a doctor to be a high risk group and the doctor then orders a test, you will not be tested if you have symptoms. I get it.  It is a virus and most people just like the flu have to just wait it out.  Sadly, just like the flu a lot of people die from it.  The flu kills 60,000 people a year.  Last year, a teenager died from the flu at our local high school.  It was devastating but definitely didn't receive the worldwide news that a teenager dying from the coronavirus received.

And that is what I can't stand about the media.  It seems be more and more one sided.  People are drawn to articles that represent their thoughts and dismiss or don't read articles about the other side. It isn't like 40 years ago when it was hard to get access to a million news articles.  It is all done by the click of switch. You don't like one headline, you go to the next.  Eventually, your computer does the sorting for you. And then you start posting the ones you like on social media and the friends who agree with you like, love, share and praise. I see the coalitions form amongst friends based on their viewpoints.  I had to stop going on social media because I just couldn't handle it.  It didn't make me feel good.  I read articles from both sides because I feel like that allows me to come to the most unbiased conclusions and see the facts of the disease and how countries are handling it.  I personally think that huge percentages of people have been exposed to this virus.  Part of me thinks it will affect everyone at one point or another until a vaccine is found.

We had the opportunity to pray and fast for our politicial leaders to be guided and for all those suffering; physically, emotionally and financially.  I read a statistic, that of course if probably wrong due to above points, that for every person diagnosed 100 jobs have been lost.  That is devastating.  People dying is devastating, doctors not having means to help everyone is devastating. I don't think we know enough to know what the right path is to attack this virus and what will help the most people in every aspect of their life, but the Lord does.  And so I leave it with that.  I pray that the Lord inspires and leaders are humble enough to hear. 





It is an ever changing world we live in.  I think a huge part of the wheels of our society is based around social media.