Have you ever had a friend or relative tell you that they did not feel better after taking the medicine the doctor gave them, and they never felt better since. Or, have you ever wondered about how effective certain COVID-19 Regulations are at reducing the spread of the virus. ‘sure you have!’.

Because we should not do something if its not getting the desired result.

Understanding The Virus – What Is It
First, let’s call it by the proper name that the medical pros call it, ‘SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19’ or lets just call it COVID.

The COVID-19 virus is a very small virus that can only be seen under an Electron-Microscope. It is like very small dust particles that can make you very sick, and it destroys many parts of the body, premirely the lungs and will make you very sick if you ingest it.

The human body responds to the virus by creating its own chemical response, know as creating ‘antibodies’. – – – Some people are strong enough to survive it and others are not.

Hand Washing, How Effective Is It
This is the ‘BIG ONE‘ the most important practice that reduces the transmission of the virus. The scientific data says that constant and thorough hand washing eliminates 99.3% of coronavirus COVID-19 from your hands, which is the chief ‘transmission mechanism’.

As you go about your day, your hands touches things that have the virus on it, (pssst: COVID-19 Virus is almost everywhere) you probably have some on your hands right now, just not a large amount.

Hand Sanitization
If you constantly sanitize your hands you are definitely killing COVID-19 virus that gets on your hand as you go through the day, at home and elsewhere. COVID-19 Virus is everywhere.

If we were able to see the COVID-19 virus with special sun glasses we would all be walking around with a ‘bottle of rubbing alcohol and a cloth’ to wipe surfaces clean.
“Well ! that is exactly what we should do, Yo jus kah si di darn little devils”
so it’s like they are not there. But they are there.

Physical Distancing – 3feet – 6feet – 10feet – Stay home 95%
If you stayed home 95% of the time to avoid the possibility of getting COVID-19 that would mean that you could only be out in public for 8 1/2 hours a week (about 1 hour 15 minutes per day). would that reduce the possibility of you getting it, the short answer is yes. But to do that for several months is not possible for most people. Physical distancing is probably the lease effective regulation that mitigates the spread of COVID-19, but getting change at your local store or corner shop is 100 time more likely to be a source of getting it.

Mask Wearing
The regulation of ‘Face Mask’ (mouth & nose covering) is effective because it inhibits droplets of saliva from the mouth of a persons who may be carrying the virus and don’t know.

But we looked even further and wanted the scientific data that proves how effective ‘face-masks’ are as opposed to not wearing any. We gathered data from 3 sources, the ‘Mayo Clinic‘ and our very own ‘Ministry of Health’ and the Center for Disease Control (CDC).

CDC Investigative Study (url resource )

Human Studies of Masking and SARS-CoV-2 Transmission
Data regarding the “real-world” effectiveness of community masking are limited to observational and epidemiological studies.

” An investigation of a high-exposure event, in which 2 symptomatically ill hair stylists interacted for an average of 15 minutes with each of 139 clients during an 8-day period, found that none of the 67 clients who subsequently consented to an interview and testing developed infection. The stylists and all clients universally wore masks in the salon as required by local ordinance and company policy at the time”

Face Shield Wearing
This is the least effective precaution to prevent getting COVID-19, especially since everyone is required to wear a ‘Face Mask’. COVID-19 virus is not flying at your face like a water jet, it is like fine dust particles that is on money and the surfaces that people touch.

Curfews
A total lock-down is when you can’t go anywhere and have to stay at home except for essential purposes. The ‘curfew’ is just a few steps down on that ladder of measures that may stop the spread of the virus.

In some countries (Italy) at one point the streets looked like ghost-towns in the middle of the workday and only 1 person per household was assigned to do grocery shopping etc. In an even stricter scenario, the military and or other authorities would deliver your essential needs.

If other regulations like hand-sanitization and face mask are enforced we can safely say that we have mitigated 90% of the problem. – A curfew does very little to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. It may make some people feel like it’s a good thing, but the science says its not really doing much.

Closure of Restaurants, Bars, Gyms Etc.
We are sure you have heard of the term ‘Super-Spreader-Event’ – and that means that when a lot of people gather at any location some of them have the virus on their hands or in their body, and thus the little ‘demon-virus’ spreads around at any gathering of people.

But does the closure of sitting in a restaurant really halt the spread of the virus, the simple answer is ‘yes and no’ – because there is no scientific data that says it is more possible to spread at a restaurant than a supermarket or the bank or shopping. The big difference is that you have to take your mask off at a restaurant.

The COVID-19 virus is everywhere, so the key thing is to constantly sanitize hands and surfaces. (and kill the little demon-virus).

Here’s a tip: We still order takeout from our favorite restaurants, but just as a precaution we microwave all takeout orders for 20-30 seconds. It’s like putting alcohol on your hands, you just do it, and then enjoy the food.

10 People Maximum Etc
The logic behind that regulation is almost the same as above. The less people at a gathering the less likely it will be that somebody has it on their hands or inside their body, and will pass it to someone else.

The COVID-19 virus is everywhere, whether you are inside or outside.

The Horrific Death Toll
On Friday November 20th the M.O.H reported 5 new deaths, bringing the total to 107, and 1 week later, on Friday November 27th. they reported 10 deaths, bringing the total to 141. That was an increase of 34 deaths in 7 days, at that rate we would have more than 300 deaths before 2021 begins.

Sanitize – Sanitize – Sanitize, Constantly !

The best thing that any government should do to halt the spread of COVID-19 is to subsidize rubbing-alcohol and hand sanitizers and give it away freely. Giving every household in the country a large bottle of rubbing-alcohol every month is not so hard.

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Written & Compiled by: digitalBelize,LIVE Staff writer – digitalCaribbean.live Thursday, November 29th. 2020 – digitalbelize@gmail.com