The Facts About Social Distancing and Why Our Healthcare System Will Collapse From COVID-19 Without It.

If you have NOT started serious social distancing… PLEASE keep reading.

Everything you are about to read, is not my opinion. These are the directions given from experts all over the world (CDC, WHO, Johns Hopkins), most of which are dealing with this outbreak on the front lines. I have added as many links as I can and they all lead to the most legitimate information you will find on this subject. I have added videos from doctors and experts around the country, none of which are affiliated with any major networks or any that are connected to politics in any way.

(If you would like to see why you should trust me OR why I’m using my sports website to write about coronavirus, skip to the bottom of this blog)

THIS IS NOT ABOUT PANIC. PLEASE…. DO NOT PANIC. 

In fact, that’s the opposite of what we want. Really, it’s about sacrificing a little bit of our normal conveniences and activities, for those around us who aren’t as healthy or young as others. We aren’t talking about locking everyone up and throwing away the key.

Buying up all of the toilet paper and cleaning supplies off local grocery store shelves is not it. We will not be banned from stores. Don’t go to the store now unless you need to. Wait until you are in more need of essentials, in a few days. Then, in stores that are much less occupied, keep your distance and wash your hands before and after.

WTF IS “SOCIAL DISTANCING”?

Stay home if you can. Take off work, if you can. If you don’t work in healthcare and can take off work, do that. If you are a younger parent, without grandparents in the house, keep your kids home, too. Children aren’t affected by the virus much at all, from what it seems. Some numbers are really showing how much they may carry the virus, however.

IF YOU ARE A HEALTHCARE WORKER:

Go to work if you aren’t showing symptoms. Find someone who can watch your child. It’s so, so, so important that you are at work. 

For everyone else, cancel any travel that isn’t totally necessary. Just a little bit of sacrifice over the next few weeks will make all of the difference. We have technology to stay close to each other from a distance, that other generations haven’t had. Let’s take advantage of that. Keep a 6-ft distance in public, if you need to go out, and don’t touch things unnecessarily.

Speaking of “other generations”… it’s time to pay our elderly back for all of the freedoms we enjoy today. They need us now, like we needed them in WWII and after. Physically, stay away from your older family and friends, if possible. Make sure you stay up with them over phone calls and skype or FaceTime. 

WHY SOCIAL DISTANCING:

“Social Distancing” is done because our healthcare system is fragile. All of them around the world are. Doing what we can now, to slow the spread of coronavirus, is all done, so we don’t overtax our healthcare system, when coronavirus cases peak over the next month’s time. If the people who will need them, have hospital beds and ventilators available when the time comes, we will be on the same path as S. Korea, instead of Italy. That’s what ALL of this is about. 

Image 1 above, is what countries around the world have seen, who didn’t practice social distancing early-on. China built additional hospitals overnight, because of overcrowding. If we social distance ourselves, we will spread our cases out over time, not overtaxing our system. This is the key to everything and why we need social distancing.

Italy did not take this seriously early on and now their hospitals are a disaster, and their death rate is astonishing. Johns Hopkins has confirmed 21,000+ cases and 1,400 deaths to this point (6.67% mortality rate) in Italy. I don’t care about the age of the patients… that’s scary AF.

S. Korea’s government locked everything down very early and they are already beyond their worst days, with only 75 confirmed casualties, out of 8,000+ cases (0.94% mortality rate). Italy just reported 368 deaths for today, alone.

We do NOT want to be like Italy. As thousands of people return from Europe this weekend, where things have gotten ugly in some places, it’s time to be extra careful.

Please read this article and look at the simulated graphics held within. I haven’t liked anything out of the Washington Post since as long as I’ve been able to read newspapers… but these simulations, on how viruses spread with and without social distancing, are incredible. They are very easy to understand, given such a complex situation. They are absolutely fantastic.

WHAT IF YOU GET SICK?

If you get A DRY COUGH AND FEVER (those are the early symptoms — NOT a runny nose), call your doctor. DO NOT go into the ER or clinic unless it escalates into a breathing problem. If you call at the first sign of symptoms, you will be talking to a doctor and hopefully getting tested before it gets to that point. 

TRUMP TEAM UPDATE COMING SUNDAY 4PM CT: 

The federal government is developing a website that is supposed to have detailed questions to determine if you need a test for coronavirus. If yes, the site will also help you make an appointment and send you to your nearest CVS, Walgreens, Target, etc., where they are setting up drive through testing clinics in parking lots. That press conference will take place soon, so I will update this paragraph with information they provide, at that time.

MY FINAL PLEA:

What we do as citizens is just as important as what government, businesses and private healthcare companies are currently working on. Social distancing IS NOT about isolating everyone. This also isn’t about who is/was right or wrong. Its not about who was early to the party or who is late. It’s not about pointing fingers. IT’S DEFINITELY NOT ABOUT POLITICS. There will be plenty of time for all of that.

I thought the majority of people had a grasp on how important social distancing would be for the next month… but realized I was quite wrong last night. Between people going out for St. Patrick’s Day/Spring Break and people returning from Europe before the travel ban is enacted, the pictures and videos hitting social media were troubling, to say the least.

Businesses need to think about shutting everything down and they need to rely on the government to reward them for their public service. I know that’s hard to grasp, but we have no better option right now. Closing for an extended period of time is NOT going to be easy. If businesses help their workers with paychecks while closed, they need to be rewarded when we come out of this.

At the end of the day, it’s about sacrifice for our fellow humans. We all need to work together. If we all do what we can, to slow this spread… we will come out smarter and stronger when it is over. We’ve banded together as a country before, and those are the memories we look back on so fondly. We can do that again… but we have to start being better RIGHT NOW.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Social Distancing Fan

WHY SHOULD YOU TRUST THIS BLOG?:

My name is Eric Strack. I founded, own, and operate 100% of Minnesota Sports Fan LLC and this website. I am an extremely conservative, gun-wielding, deer-killing, NRA/Ducks Unlimited membership-holding, Trump-voting, red-blooded, republican. Honestly, I never really wanted to reveal any of this personal information like this, as I built this website and the Minnesota Sports Fan brand… but if it helps some people to read beyond this introduction, it will be worth it.

I see too many people who believe the coronavirus outcry is something political or created by the mainstream media, so I want it to be clear, this blog isn’t that and I am not the mainstream media.

I’ve been tracking the Coronavirus (COVID-19, Wuhan Virus) since Wednesday. I really wanted to know the right stance on it. My job is to cover MN sports, so I really dove into the research when they started canceling sporting events and leagues around the country. I wanted to know if I should be writing blogs about the crazy left ruining sports, or if I should be worried about this epidemic, myself.

Since then, I estimate I’ve watched at least 8-10 hours/day worth of coverage from a wide variety of news networks, but mostly CNN early and FOX News more recently. I’ve also read all of the major fact-sheets from the CDC, WHO (World Health Organization), and Johns Hopkins myself. I have done all of this ridiculous research because I don’t like telling people what to do. I like our free, capitalistic world (see previous paragraph) where people get to do whatever they want…. but after all of this time of independent research on the subject, the importance has become evident.