All of my coworkers are freaking out about the Coronavirus. I work for a school district so any rapidly spreading contagions are a serious concern for us. There are now new chemicals to use on the buses to disinfect and there are bottles of hand sanitizer everywhere. It’s a good thing but I can’t help feeling like these are things we should have been doing all along.
A coworker is out with pink eye now. Flu goes around every year. We’ve had a throat and sinus thing going around for weeks. Earlier this winter we had a nasty stomach bug circulating too. Why is everyone just now washing their hands and cleaning surfaces? Why is everyone worried about vaccines and masks? Why are we just now preparing for a pandemic? I’m frustrated equally by the panic now and the lack of care before.
On top of it all I worry over whether I am reacting and preparing in the right way. I am trying to stay calm and rational. I’m CPR and First Aid trained so I have always been mindful about washing my hands and protecting myself for transmittable disease but I have stepped things up. I’m disinfecting more often and paying more attention to how often I am touching my face but that’s it for universal precautions.
In addition, I’m checking myself when I feel the panic rising and I am limiting my access to the news cycle. I advise everyone out there to do the same.
Lisa Marie Blair 