I rarely write about topical issues mostly because it’s the “stuff” that everyone else is already talking about. If your email inbox is anything like mine, this week you’ve had new mail from your bank, the credit union, your church, the grocery stores, your insurance agent, your children’s school, and any place where you might physically show up. I even had one from Budget Rent A Car (from whom I haven’t rented since 2009). The companies all want to assure us that OUR health and safety is of utmost priority for them during this time of COVID-19 crisis.

I just Googled COVID-19 and was rewarded with  2,650,000,000 results. That’s two BILLION, six hundred fifty million. Clearly, every adult on earth knows about this topic.

While naturally I have some concern about the virus that is especially threatening for older adults with underlying health conditions, I refuse to sit around and wring my hands. And actually, I am more concerned about the deep stress and overwhelming anxiety so many people are going through worrying about COVID-19.

I rarely watch any live news but was too lazy to get up from the sofa when it came on last night. Story after story was shared by anxious newscasters about schools temporarily closing in the DC metropolitan area. After nine minutes I announced that I couldn’t take any more. The media was making this proactive step sound like confirmation that we are all going to die.

If we focus on fear and the worst predictions, we’ll make ourselves miserable. I hear and see people tuning out the positive aspects with a “yes but” response. As most psychologists will tell you, “yes but” actually means “no.”

Four days ago the Director-General of the World Health Organization Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus offered remarks on the COVID-19 virus. He said that among those who are infected, most will recover.

Yes, most will recover, just as most people recover from regular influenza. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that during the flu season of 2019/2020 there have been at least 22,000 deaths and 370,000 hospitalizations among the 36 million people unlucky enough to have experienced the “regular” flu.

Follow the CDC precautions for avoiding this current virus. Absolutely wash your hands on a regular basis and use hand sanitizer when you can’t. Stay home if you’re sick. Cover your coughs and sneezes. I would add stop reading every alarming article and watching every scary video about it. Check out true sources such as the CDC instead.

And keep in mind Dr. Ghebreyesus closing words in his remarks:

“Let hope be the antidote to fear. Let solidarity be the antidote to blame. Let our shared humanity be the antidote to our shared threat.”

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Remarks by WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Please read!

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advice page