The Basics Haven't Changed
During the COVID pandemic, like our ancestors before us, We saw the best of times,
We saw the worst of times.
We saw the best of ourselves,
We saw the worst of ourselves.
Addressing the spread of an infectious disease thought to be transmittable through our airways begins with stopping the movement of people who are infected into areas where the infection does not yet exist.
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While this does not prevent movement of the pathogen, it is certainly wiser than throwing caution - or more correctly, the pathogen - to the wind.
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The following slide shows the results of a National Science Foundation (NSF) study published in 2007. The study recommended that one of the first steps to be taken, given a planet with air travel, is to stop the global movement of the pathogen by restricting international travel.
Plainly put, if you do not wish to spread a pathogen, producing a world wide InflammoThrombotic Immunologic Response (ITIR) Disease (ITIRD), i.e. pneumonia, then you stop the spread to reduce or prevent a pandemic.
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We did this too late despite the 2007 report!
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This approach is undoubtedly the same thing your parents taught you when you were a child. If you are sick, you stay home, rest, drink plenty of fluids, and don't spread the infection to others.
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The exact opposite was proposed by the Great - or should I say Not So Great - Barrington Declaration, which proposed exposing anyone who was not at risk of dying from the infection. But as you have seen, there are too many potential factors (variables) involved in the ITIRD process that will ultimately determine if one further variable (infection), is one too many.
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As we saw in the 2022 study from Johns Hopkins Institute, there were more than enough studies looking at what worked to reduce COVID mortality (death).
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Of these, most of them were so poorly done they were scientifically useless.
As a result, only 24 studies out of 18,590, or 0.1%, provided any useful information.
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These studies all confirmed, what the NSF study cautioned, the longer it took countries to restrict travel and consequently the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 viruses, the worse the spread and mortality. Countries that acted sooner had better outcomes.
Ultimately the research showed that it was the voluntary behavior of people - distancing from people when sick and washing hands and areas where nasal material had been spread - accounted for 90% of the reduction in mortality by reducing exposure of healthy people to sick people.
In other words -
When you are sick,
stay home,
rest,
drink plenty of fluids, and
don't spread the infection to others.
FOLLOWING THE COVID PANDEMIC LET US TAKE A MOMENT TO APPRECIATE