I woke up with a scratchy throat and a bit of a sniffle and I can feel just the SLIIIIIGHTEST attempt by my lungs to want this to grow into a cough.

*googling “first symptoms of COVID-19”*

I’m not a paranoid person, nor do I really fall for conspiracy rhetoric. I hear a lot of people around me saying “I think everyone’s over reacting to this” and “I think the media is making too big of a deal out of this” and “the flu kills far many more people than this every year.”

I agree many people are over reacting. But, sadly, in my opinion, too many are under reacting.

The chances I have COVID-19 are so miniscule, it would be understandable if I just took a pill and a Red Bull and went on with my day. I’m supposed to meet a buddy for a long-overdue lunch. I won’t be.

First off, my symptoms are on the very low percentage of the symptom range. Few people get a sore throat from this. It’s also not common to have the sniffles, as COVID-19 is a lower respiratory illness, not upper. If I have it, my first symptoms, typically, would be fever and difficulty breathing. I have neither of those.

So I should feel pretty confident I’m not infected. But there is still the slightest chance.

Secondly, I live in an area with only ONE known case, and she’s in hospital, so the odds just dropped even further. But, thinking back, I did work for two days in an office last week with a friend who traveled through the Atlanta airport on his way here. *nodding head back and forth acknowledging, doubtfully, that he was contagious* I would hate to think I got it from the Temple Buddhist Center where nobody shakes hands, we just put our hands over our hearts and bow. “Namaste.”

What else? Thinking back to all the people whose paths I’ve crossed. Wait staff, money changing at QuikTrip, visiting my daughter in a hospital (in Johnson County, KS), a training session in Wichita all flow through my brain.

I have to think back as far as 14 days, mind you. I’ll need my calendar for this one. Most people have symptoms within 5-8 days, but they now suspect some people go as long as 14 without any signs of infection.

Third, I live alone. In a warehouse. In an industrial park. I’m a loner, a hermit, and a recluse. I work mostly from home. It’s not like I have kids coming home from school, or dance, or soccer contagious from a friend. I don’t have coworkers bringing it in.

The bottom line is: The odds of my having it are about as low as probable as anyone in the world.
However, I’m cancelling my lunch meeting.

Overreacting you say?

Possibly. I call it precautionary. Because even though the odds are slim, there still is a chance I have it. And although I’m not worried about ME, the last thing I want is to infect my friend, who then infects his office staff, with a couple of pregnant moms to be. Perhaps he infects his wife, who spends a lot of time with her mother, who is in her 80s. Maybe he infects his son, who is a real estate agent and interacts with many more people. Or maybe his daughter who would go back to her dorm and possibly infect her classmates.

I DO agree many people are over reacting, but as I watched Italy’s known infected go from 2 to 1700 in ONE WEEK, and now, less than a month later, they have 10,149 cases, of which 631 were fatal.

When I read about one of our politicians, who interacted with someone who tested positive, who not only didn’t self-quarantine, but went to work and gave capital tours to a youth group, I literally shook my head. What is he trying to prove? That’s this is a hoax? That he’s stronger than a virus? He’s some badass who can rise above all of it?

In an article from The Atlantic, as of March 7, they could only verify 1,895 people in the US had been tested for COVID-19. “By this point in its outbreak, South Korea had tested more than 100,000 people for the disease, and it was testing roughly 15,000 people every day. The United Kingdom, where three people have died of COVID-19, has already tested more than 24,900 people,” it wrote.

So what if I really thought I had it? Minnesota Department of Health has the only hotline I found I could call. I didn’t call it. I read where I’m supposed to call my doctor and tell them my symptoms...they will advise me from there. I’m not supposed to just show up in the waiting room, which makes perfect sense. The last time I called them, when I was REALLY sick, it took them 24 hours to respond. If I really am contagious, I would hate to walk into a hospital, urgent care, or pharmacy...or ANYWHERE.

Back to my question: If I really have it, what do I do? In an interview with Hannity on Fox, our President said: "So if, you know, we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better, just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work, some of them go to work, but they get better."

*shrugging shoulders* I don’t buy that. I see what this is doing internationally and it’s not a hoax, it’s not to be taken lightly. Yes, the flu kills more people each year, and the flu is more contagious...but this thing has a much higher mortality rate AND there is still so much we don’t know. We’re less than three months into this thing. THREE MONTHS.

I think there should be a free hotline to call.

I think there should be free testing centers.

I think our government needs to prove to use they have a plan, just in case this gets out of hand. They haven’t. They’ve literally blown it off with “this will go away.” I blame a lot of what’s happening on Wall Street to this false bravado.

I’m lucky that all of the work I have to do this week I can do right here in Kookyville, KS, population 1. I have my computer, my phone, and internet. Last week I did a preemptive grocery run, so I have plenty of food.

But what if had a “normal” job, working 8-5, was paid by the hour, was living paycheck to paycheck, and woke up with a sniffle? With bills to pay and kids to feed, would I stay home? Would I spend that $100 to go to Urgent Care? Or would I go to work, interacting with my coworkers and customers, handling money that gets passed along over and over, touching things others will touch?

It’s time the United States starts taking this seriously, or we may suffer the same explosion Italy and Iran are dealing with.

And it’s not just about “80 percent will be fine and fully recover” or “there’s about a 3 percent mortality rate.” What about the other 17 percent who will need to be hospitalized, put in isolation, put on respirators, and will need specialized care to survive? Does our current health care system have facilities for this? Can rural America survive an outbreak, where there are few, or no, hospitals, and the ones they have are sparsely staffed?

China built hospitals specific to this outbreak in a week! Can, and will, the US do the same if it gets to that point? Or will we all still be sitting around saying “I think everyone’s over reacting to this.”

I hear a lot of people blaming the media, saying they are making things worse. From what I see, in general, they are just reporting what’s going on. They aren’t making stuff up. Italy is in lock down! Countries are closing borders to contain this and protect citizens from the spread. This is real and we all should know.

Ignorance is not going to save anyone.

I read many papers each day. Two or more are domestic, I read two British papers, and aljazeera.com. This gives me a good global view, with less propaganda. This is not a hoax. I’m not afraid, but I’m keeping an eye on it. I already have clients in Europe who are affected by this, which, in turns, is affecting my business.

In the end, I’m not in favor of over reacting, or under reacting. I’m for informed caution. I’m for community sensitivity. I’m for pragmatism.

With that, I’m playing it safe and staying home today.