We are not here to incite fear about coronavirus, AKA COVID-19. This article is an observation about how the coronavirus story or narrative is growing and changing in news media and social media, here in the United States. Some people are saying it’s similar to the common flu. Others are implying it is a terrifying pandemic. Whatever your opinion, coronavirus cases are growing quickly worldwide (the survival rate is well above 90%) and this is leading to a new phase of the coronavirus newsstream—famous people getting infected.
On March 11, Tom Hanks instagrammed that he has the coronavirus. “Hello, folks. Rita and I are down here in Australia. We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches….We’ll keep the world posted and updated. Take care of yourselves! Hanx!”
As of today, two NBA players; Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, both tested positive for coronavirus COVID-19.
Obviously, the American general public is taking notice. This is interesting—psychologically—because many Americans feel they “know” various actors, musicians, athletes and other stars because of how much content they have consumed from and about those famous people. As a result, there is a deep emotional connection felt by fans with the stars that creates a sense of familiarity. So, what your author is pointing out is the propensity for Americans to become more affected by the news of coronavirus spreading, as various A-listers report coming down with COVID-19. This is a significant stage of the evolving coronavirus story because most Americans (at the time this is being written) don’t personally know anyone with the virus—but if a famous person they follow gets it, they will feel as though they know someone who is affected. That has the potential to stoke more fear, and we should all agree not to allow this inevitable stage of the story to cause us to panic.
Part of keeping calm is telling yourself, “You knew this was going to happen. It’s OK. Don’t panic.” And that’s what we all should do about the growing list of famous people who are reported to be infected. Let’s remind ourselves of a few other things too. Like the survival rate of coronavirus is well above 90%, and there are some simple things we all can do to help prevent the spread of the virus.
The CDC has plenty of information about helping prevent the spread of coronavirus and doing what you can to protect yourself from being infected. Visit the CDC.gov website to learn more about Preventing COVID-19 Spread in Communities which includes preventive measures at home, at school, at work, in large gatherings, and similar topics. The number one suggestion from health officials across the board is to practice regular handwashing. The CDC also says when soap and water aren’t available, use a hand sanitizer of at least 60% alcohol or higher, and try to use disinfectants to clean surfaces.
From a retail point of view, American consumers are seeing hand soap selling out at even the largest big box retailers and trusted retail providers of personal care products. When the shelves are bare, Americans are turning to the Internet to find online vendors of hand soap and hand sanitizer. That’s why Bahama Bo’s brand is here to help provide what is needed to help prevent the spread of illness by making our hand soap and hand sanitizer available to the general public with an open commitment not to price gouge, while maintaining our high standard of quality. You can trust Bahama Bo’s will always be high quality, competitively priced, and sourced/manufactured in the USA whenever possible. (We did have to partner with one sanitizer manufacturer in Mexico to meet demand–no methanol in our products. Our other sanitizer manufacturers are in the US. Most of our other products are sourced and manufactured in the US. )
So as you watch the news and see more names of people you “know” from the silver screen, just remember the survival rate is incredibly high and the best thing you can do for yourself and those you love is to wash your hands regularly, and when you can’t, use hand sanitizer. Other personal health suggestions can be found at the CDC governmental website.
