The next two graphics illustrate some preventative measures that can be taken to safeguard against contracting COVID-19.

Community mitigation guidelines to prevent pandemic influenza — United States, 2017

Absent a vaccination or effective treatment to prevent death from a COVID-19 infection, the next two graphics offer additional preventative measures. These additional preventative measures should help to minimize contracting or spreading the COVID-19 virus.

Preventing COVID-19 Spread in Communities

What Is Social Distancing? Preventing the Spread of COVID-19

A new medical view seems to be emerging. The new medical view posits that wiping surfaces and wearing facial masks are not particularly effective techniques to prevent the spread of COVID-19. I, on the other hand, am of the view that it is better to be safe than sorry. It is better to take these kinds of precautionary measures than not. Some extra buffer or layer of protection against infection (for instance, wearing the facial mask) is better than taking no proactive measures at all (for instance, not wearing the mask). In other words, when it comes to preventative COVID-19 measures such as wiping surfaces and wearing facial masks, something is better than nothing so long as the virus continues to thrive. A good analogy to the debate about wearing a facial mask would be that of using a condom to prevent someone from contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD) or HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome). Which one do you think offers the greatest degree of protection against contracting / spreading a STD—or avoiding pregnancy—using a condom or not using a condom? Likewise, which one do you think is the most effective approach against contracting / spreading the COVID-19 virus, wearing a facial mask or not wearing a facial mask?

Forget about the [USA] politics of wearing facial masks. The next graphic illustrates how medical experts view the benefit of wearing facial masks when it comes to not contracting COVID-19 or when it comes to minimizing the spread of COVID-19 to others. Besides, humans ought to have learned by now that natural disasters do not discriminate nor do they play political favors. Naturally occurring disasters on Earth do not care anything at all about what your race, age, color, creed, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability, health, nationality, socioeconomic status, political affiliation, geographic location, political-economic system, and so forth, happen to be. If you find yourself in the path or crosshair of a natural disaster such as a virus pandemic like COVID-19, then it is almost certain to ensnare, engulf, or otherwise adversely impact you. When faced with a natural disaster such as COVID-19, the only thing that humans can do is take steps to mitigate against or minimize the resultant adverse impacts such as illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths. Mitigation steps include taking actions such as hand washing, wearing facial masks, physical distancing, and getting vaccinated.

Absent the existence of a vaccination to eliminate the COVID-19 threat and absent effective treatments to prevent COVID-19 deaths, in addition to strategies such as frequent hand washing, staying at home, social distancing, mask wearing, and so forth, another strategy to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus is known as contact tracing. As more households grow impatient with staying at home, as more workers clamor to return to work, as some students eagerly anticipate a return to school, and as more business owners stand ready to re-open their businesses—hence, to experience some semblance of a return to pre-COVID-19 normalcy—contact tracing (in tandem or conjunction with a robust testing regimen) becomes critical in slowing the spread of COVID-19.

COVID-19 Testing

A robust testing regimen is critical because testing serves as an early-warning system. A robust testing regimen quickly identifies carriers of the COVID-19 virus. In instances where testing reveals the presence of the COVID-19 virus, then effective contact tracing is made possible. With effective contact tracing, carriers of the virus are isolated or quarantined, thus, slowing spread of the virus.

For USA residents who wish to be tested for the COVID-19 viral infection, options include websites such as Castlight Health Inc. and GISCorps COVID-19 Testing Sites Locator. The "PCR" COVID-19 tests are said to be the most accurate type of test. PCR tests must be performed by trained personnel at testing sites. Other COVID-19 "antigen" self-tests are available over-the-counter at popular drugstore chains such as CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid. As of January 2022, the USA government has begun shipping free COVID-19 antigen self-tests directly to USA households.

The next graphic describes the different types of COVID-19 tests and how COVID-19 testing works.

COVID-19 Contact Tracing

There is manual contact tracing, and there is digital contact tracing. Manual contact tracing involves human-to-human follow-up with potential COVID-19 victims. The map below illustrates the kinds of human resources required to conduct manual contact tracing.

Using a smartphone, digital contact tracing involves electronically notifying potential victims of their possible exposure to someone who has contracted the COVID-19 virus. Many software development initiatives are underway to foster digital contact tracing. Currently, Covid Watch represents one such software initiative to foster digital contact tracing through using a smartphone app. Of course, for contact tracing to be effective, it requires widespread public embrace, acceptance, and participation in the tracing process. The graphic below illustrates how digital contact tracing works in theory.

Preventing COVID-19 Spread in Communities

Digital Contact Tracing Graphic: Example proposal for a location-based COVID-19 contact tracing app: Contacts of individual A (and all individuals using the app) are traced using GPS co-localizations with other app users, supplemented by scanning QR codes displayed on high-traffic public amenities where GPS is too coarse. Individual A requests a COV-19 test (using the App) and their positive test result triggers an instant notification to individuals who have been in close contact. The app advises isolation for the case (individual A) and quarantine of their contacts.

There is every reason to exercise an abundance of cautious against contracting COVID-19 especially for residents of Wuhan who are in close proximity to the source of the viral outbreak. There also is every reason to be vigilant in safeguarding against the spread of COVID-19. At the same time, there is no need for panic or hysteria. Worldometers.com aptly noted that "every year an estimated 290,000 to 650,000 people die in the world due to complications from seasonal influenza (flu) viruses. This figure corresponds to 795 to 1,781 deaths per day due to the seasonal flu." In other words, in its present state and statistically speaking, the COVID-19 crisis is a far, far less threat to human life than is the seasonal flu. Put another way, in its present state and given current statistics, humans stand a greater chance of dying from the seasonal flu than from the COVD-19 pandemic. The previous statement should be qualified by noting that, with the passage of time, COVID-19 has proven to be far more dangerous than the seasonal flu.

The next video and image make a distinction between the seasonal flu compared to the pandemic flu.

How Is Pandemic Flu Different from Seasonal Flu? | Pandemic Influenza (Flu) | CDC

For USA residents who wish to participate in one of the COVID-19 clinical trials, please consult websites such as COVID-19 Prevention Network, COVID-19 Dashboard, and COMBATCOVID.HHS.GOV to get started.

Non-Pharmaceutical and Pharmaceutical Interventions

To summarize, in the search for a cure to COVID-19, a three-pronged approach exists:

1. Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs)
2. Pharmaceutical interventions in the form of taking medications to treat and cure those who have contracted COVID-19
3. Pharmaceutical interventions in the form of getting a vaccine or a combination of vaccines to improve the odds against contracting COVID-19

Non-pharmaceutical interventions are crucial so long as no known treatments or cures exist for COVID-19. Non-pharmaceutical interventions include essential practices such as covering the nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing, frequent hand washing and not touching the face, wearing the facial mask, social/physical distancing, quarantines, etc. Non-pharmaceutical interventions also entail aggressively testing for COVID-19 and aggressively contact tracking.

For the non-pharmaceutical approach to work at eliminating the COVID-19 outbreak, it becomes vitally important to strictly adhere to a gradual—even meticulous—step-by-step process of shutting down and opening up. For instance, if the stay-at-home phase represents Phase 0 of the process and return-to-normal represents Phase 5 of the process, then certain milestones must be met before proceeding to the next phase in the recovery process. For instance, one milestone might be 14 consecutive days of declining new cases of COVID-19 infections in the region before proceeding to the next phase—or a certain percentage decrease in the number of new cases. The recovery process is likely to breakdown or fail if a significant numbers of citizens opt to flout or ignore the pre-established milestones before proceeding to the next phase. The recovery process also is likely to breakdown or fail if citizens opt to skip about the process. For instance, some citizens might opt to skip from Phase 0 to Phase 4 and completely ignore the requirements of Phases 1, 2, and 3.

Coronavirus - Executive approach to decision-making Roadmap

In terms of pharmaceutical interventions, the search for a COVID-19 cure continues. Pharmaceutical interventions remain in the trial phase. Pharmaceutical interventions only should be used when administered under the strict supervision and care of a doctor or other medical professional. The following graphic summarizes ongoing global efforts to find effective and safe medications and vaccines to treat and ultimately arrest or end the COVID-19 outbreak.

In terms of the third prong of pharmaceutical interventions in the form of getting a vaccine, it is one thing to develop a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. Widespread public acceptance and embrace of the newly developed vaccine is another matter altogether. Will there be widespread public acceptance and embrace of the COVID-19 vaccine? Once a (some) COVID-19 vaccine(s) does (do) become available, will the general public feel comfortable enough to take the very crucial step of actually getting vaccinated against contracting the COVID-19 virus? Widespread public acceptance and embrace of the COVID-19 vaccine is somewhat analogous to a merchant selling products to consumers. That is to say, it is one thing for a merchant to have a store fully stocked with merchandise. It is another thing altogether for consumers to be inspired to demand and purchase the merchandise. By the same token, it is one thing to have COVID-19 vaccines readily available for use by the general public. It is another thing altogether for the general public willingly to go to medical practitioners to get vaccinated. In the case of a safely developed, tested, and approved COVID-19 vaccine, what percentage of the general public will get vaccinated? Will there be 50%, 75%, 95%, and so on, participation in the COVID-19 vaccination effort? Will the vaccine be widely available and affordable to obtain?

The next two videos emphasize the importance of getting vaccinated against the seasonal flu virus. By analogy, the same vaccination importance applies to getting vaccinated against COVID-19 pandemic flu. It is presumed that the vaccine would have undergone a very rigorous testing protocol before its final approval and production. The moral of the following two videos is this: Why gamble with your good health, and why gamble with your life, by deciding not to get vaccinated [against contracting COVID-19]?

There is an idiom that goes like this: "A hard head makes a soft behind." A reluctance, hesitancy, or refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine (hence, a hard head) represents a classic application of the idiom. In other words, failure to get vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus could mean the difference between becoming ill, hospitalized, and dying (hence, a soft behind). The COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. The COVID-19 vaccines save lives!

For USA residents who wish to get the COVID-19 vaccine, please consult websites such as vaccines.gov, Vaccinate Your Family, and VaccineFinder to get started.

Myths and Conspiracy Theories

There exists no shortage of myths, conspiracy theories, falsehoods, and home remedies surrounding the COVID-19 viral outbreak. Many of these myths are spread across the World Wide Web through various social media platforms. The next 19-page graphic highlights some common and popular COVID-19 myths.

The next graphic examines some COVID-19-related scams meant to defraud unwary or trusting consumers.

econsumer.gov: Covid-19 Scams

The Ever-Present Threat of Viruses

This section provides an overview of how viruses work in a very general way including the threat viruses pose to human existence. The next graphic and videos illustrate how viruses work, generally speaking.

Retroviral Life Cycle

The next video illustrates how COVID-19 works, particularly speaking.

Ever-Present Threat of Viruses

Though scary and potentially fatal, and though it remains vital to remain vigilant against its spread, the COVID-19 outbreak is no cause for humans to panic or to become hysterical to the point of thinking that tens of millions of humans across the globe will die from contracting the virus on par with the number of virus-related deaths decades, centuries, and millenia in the past. Admittedly, COVID-19's rapid spread across the globe came as something of a surprise. However, COVID-19 is not the first deadly health scare faced by humankind, and it most certainly will not be the last deadly health challenge to occur on Earth. To be sure, to date in human history, COVID-19 comes nowhere close to being the deadliest virus to impact humans. The next video illustrates some of the worst contagions on record to have adversely affected the human species from a health perspective. Yet, at the same time, COVID-19's adverse impact on the world is not to be underestimated or understated.

And, as noted by Discover magazine, from a big-picture perspective of human survival, there are far worse threats to life on Earth than COVID-19.

Diseases Kill and Vaccines Save Lives

Much like firearms kill, diseases kill. Not all diseases are created equal but there is one commonality between them. The commonality between all diseases is that they cause discomfort and/or death to those infected. Some diseases are more lethal than others. Diseases induce a departure from what otherwise is considered to be a state of normal or good health.

All parents want their children to grow up to be healthy, safe, prosperous, and happy in life. Why do you think a vaccinations regimen comes highly recommended for newborns? A vaccinations regimen comes highly recommended by doctors and medical experts because vaccines prevent diseases. Vaccines save lives. Vaccines help to ensure that children will grow up in a society free of diseases.

Above Image Left (Disease Illustration): "Captured in an unidentified location in 1972, this photograph depicts an anterior view of a young boy’s face, chest, and upper extremities, which displayed the characteristic rash of smallpox. The image was taken on the 8th day of this patient’s illness."
Above Image Right (Healthy Illustration): "This photograph depicts a father and son about to embark on a beautiful Georgia afternoon bicycle ride. At this point in their preparation, after dad had secured his own protective helmet, he was in the process of securing his son’s helmet, by adjusting the straps below his chin. These high-tech helmets were aerodynamic, permitting a cooling flow of air to reach the wearer’s scalp, and very light-weight, as well."

Meanwhile, scientists remain fast at work seeking cures for known and emerging diseases. Vaccines can mean the difference between life and death. Granted, there are some people who do not get infected despite the presence of diseases. It would be unwise to take the risk of becoming disease-infected by choosing not to get the protective shield offered by vaccines. Vaccines represent a classic case of erring on the side of precautions.

Much like the atmosphere serves as a shield to protect humans from the Sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays, vaccines serve as an invisible shield to protect humans from harmful bacteria and viruses that exist in the natural world. It is too bad that a vaccine does not exist for murder, but murder is another human challenge not related to the challenge of COVID-19 under discussion here.

Lesson Learned?

The next video serves as a sober reminder that viral pandemics are not to be taken lightly. The next video serves as a sober reminder that viral pandemics are not to be taken for granted. The video itself is a simulation. It explores some worst-case scenarios resulting from a pandemic viral outbreak. The video also assumes that the virus is very easily transmitted from one human to the next, which does not always necessarily reflect reality.

As ridiculous, absurd, and incredible as it sounds, regrettably, there is a tendency by some humans to resort to their tribal instincts or to become caught up in an us-versus-them psychological syndrome. These tribal tendencies combine to cause some humans to miss the forest for the trees. Instead of viewing the COVID-19 viral outbreak simply as a threat to human life (hence, the forest), some humans begin resorting to placing different tribal labels (hence, the trees) on the COVID-19 viral outbreak. In the USA, for instance, it gets complicated given its free, open, permissive, diverse, largely tolerant, and largely benevolent society. In the USA, for instance, some (in the minority) choose to view the COVD-19 viral outbreak primarily as a racial virus. They view it as a virus that primarily and adversely impacts black American communities. Consequently, for those who ascribe to a more racial view of the COVID-19 viral outbreak, the implication is that minimal restrictions should be placed on the movements of citizens residing in certain predominantly un-impacted white American communities.

Some (in the minority) choose to view the COVID-19 viral outbreak through more partisan political lens. From the partisan political perspective, the COVID-19 viral outbreak is viewed mainly as adversely impacting liberals who reside in densely populated large urban cities. Consequently, for those who choose to adopt more of a partisan political view of COVID-19, the implication is that minimal restrictions should be placed on the movements of citizens residing in largely un-impacted conservative rural areas of the USA.

Some (in the minority) choose to view the COVID-19 viral outbreak through a nationalistic lens. From a nationalistic perspective, instead of viewing the COVD-19 viral outbreak as benignly starting as an animal-to-human transmission in a foreign food marketplace, it becomes viewed as a "China" virus perpetrated by malevolent Chinese actors. The conversation quickly degenerates into a series of angry verbal exchanges instead of concerted and sustained cooperation, coordination, and collaboration to arrest the COVID-19 virus.

Others (in the minority) view the COVID-19 viral outbreak through assorted demographic lens such as the young versus the old (i.e., the age lens), females versus males (i.e., the gender lens), the sick versus the well (i.e., the health lens), or the poor versus the rich (i.e., the wealth lens). And, on an on it goes with one group labeling the COVID-19 viral outbreak primarily as the other group's problem and not their group's problem. These tribal tendencies lead to bickering, divisiveness, and general societal polarization instead of concerted, coordinated societal cohesiveness in addressing the viral outbreak. Suddenly, in the USA, for instance, these various minority viewpoints combine to cause certain segments of the population to begin viewing the COVID-19 viral outbreak primarily as a black problem, a liberal problem, an urban problem, an elderly problem, an infirm problem, a male problem, a poor person's problem, and so forth. In reality, perhaps one of the most important courses of action to take during this COVID-19 viral outbreak would for citizens to seriously embrace and adhere to the counsel of learned individuals such as academicians, scholars, doctors, and expert virus researchers. One of the most important courses of action to take during this COVID-19 viral outbreak would be for citizens to seriously embrace and adhere to government-issued COVID-19 safety guidelines similar to those depicted above in the "Ounce of Prevention" section and also in the next 20-page Opening-Up-America-Again graphic.

To be sure, as it specifically relates to the COVID-19 outbreak within the USA, one commentator (exaggeratedly) noted that the USA's approach to combating the outbreak was more akin to a 50-country approach. That is to say, each of the 50 states comprising the USA was given great leeway in charting or tailoring its own unique approach to combating the outbreak—hence, a 50-state approach rather than a single "united states" approach. And, because the USA is a heterogeneous nation, its heterogeneity makes it more susceptible to tribal forces. Of course, federal governmental agencies such as the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) constantly supplied the 50 states with more homogeneous guidance as illustrated by the above Opening-Up-America-Again graphic.

As noted elsewhere on this website, when it comes to things in life such as the adverse impacts of Mother Nature (for example, the outbreak of diseases, tornadoes, hurricanes, typhoons, dust storms, fire storms, snow blizzards, volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, avalanches, floods, droughts, soil erosion, meteor showers, asteroid strikes, exploding stars, colliding galaxies, exploding galaxies, and so forth), the lesson to be learned is this: Mother Nature does not discriminate. Adverse forces of Mother Nature do not care anything at all about what your race, age, color, creed, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability, health, nationality, socioeconomic status, political affiliation, geographic location, political-economic system, and so forth, happen to be. If you find yourself in the path or crosshair of an adverse force of Mother Nature, then the adverse force is almost certain to ensnare, engulf, or somehow adversely impact you.

Another lesson to be learned is this: Humans perpetually can adapt and calibrate their actions to ameliorate, mitigate, and lessen the harm and damage done to property and life by—and even outsmart—these adverse impacts of Mother Nature. It is very well humans that should undertake these proactive and reactive measures to get on a somewhat comparable footing with Mother Nature for human survival's sake. However, in the final analysis, humans are no match for Mother Nature. In the end, Mother Nature will prevail by carrying the day. Such an outcome was a hard lesson learned by the dinosaurs that reigned on Earth millions of years ago before humans emerged on the scene. The ultimate lesson is this: Humility, not arrogance, is of the essence.

I confess. I completely underestimated the severity and tenacity of the COVID-19 virus. When the world became aware of the COVID-19 outbreak in January 2020, I assumed that the virus would be eradicated along the same timeframe it took to contain and eradicate the Ebola virus outbreak in 2014. When this page was created on 20-February-2020, I did not foresee the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths outstripping the number of Ebola cases and death by a long shot. When this page was created on 20-February-2020, I did not foresee the COVID-19 virus outbreak becoming widespread to the point of becoming a global pandemic. The next two graphics present a contrast to how, on the one hand, the Ebola virus outbreak was concentrated and limited in extent primarily impacting West Africa. On the other hand, the COVID-19 virus outbreak was more dispersed and widespread in extent impacting the entire world.

Ebola Virus Outbreak

See Also: COVID-19 Heroes

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