NAME OBASI EKENE ABRAHAM MATRIC NO 18/LAW01/156 COURSE: CONSUMER BEHAVIOR II I went for a long bike ride today. I needed to get out and clear my head, I noticed that people were wearing face masks and they were queuing to enter the supermarket and I said to myself “Yeah, life goes on.”  Pretty corny, and maybe even a bit selfish given what so many people are going through right now. But maintaining the basic rhythms of life that remain available can give one a sense of resilience. I ask myself, is there something we can learn from this, something that will prepare us to better weather the next crisis, some different way of being that might make us stronger? Is this an opportunity to change our thinking, our behavior? How can we even do that? Are we capable of doing that? This was because of a disease called Corona Virus. What is a coronavirus? The coronavirus family causes illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), according to the WHO. They circulate in animals and some can be transmitted between animals and humans. Several coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans. The new coronavirus, the seventh known to affect humans, has been named COVID-19. What are the symptoms? Common signs of infection include fever, coughing and breathing difficulties. In severe cases, it can cause pneumonia, multiple organ failure and death. The incubation period of COVID-19 is thought to be between one and 14 days. It is contagious before symptoms appear, which is why so many people get infected. Infected patients can be also asymptomatic, meaning they do not display any symptoms despite having the virus in their systems. Humans first get a coronavirus from contact with animals. Then, it can spread from human to human. Health officials do not know what animal caused COVID-19. The COVID-19 virus can be spread through contact with certain bodily fluids, such as droplets in a cough. It might also be caused by touching something an infected person has touched and then touching your hand to your mouth, nose, or eyes. How is a coronavirus diagnosed? If you believe you have COVID-19, you should contact your family doctor immediately. Before going to the doctor’s office, call with your concerns. This will allow the office to collect information and offer you guidance on next steps. To diagnose you, your doctor may run tests to rule out other common infections. In some cases, your doctor may suggest you self-isolate to prevent the spread of infection. The FDA has also seen unauthorized fraudulent test kits for COVID-19 being sold online. Currently, the only way to be tested for COVID-19 is to talk to your family doctor. It’s ironic that as the pandemic forces us into our separate corners, it’s also showing us how intricately we are all connected. It’s revealing the many ways that our lives intersect almost without our noticing. And it’s showing us just how tenuous our existence becomes when we try to abandon those connections and distance from one another. Health care, housing, race, inequality, the climate — we’re all in the same leaky boat.  Viruses don’t respect borders. They get in even with extra screening and travel restrictions. Maybe less, but some slips in. And until there is a vaccine, no one is immune. What that means is that we have to put aside some of our suspicions and animosities towards others and see how much we can limit or even halt the damage.  One hopes that smart analyses and initiatives will help us discover how to do that. We at Reasons to Be Cheerful like to look around and see who has already found success in solving a problem. A few places like South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore have done a good job with containing this thing — kids are in school, people are going to work, cafes and restaurants are full. In many European countries, governments are making sure folks still have an income. Gingerly, these people’s worlds and economies are returning to normal — a somewhat new normal. What can we learn from their success? For one, many of these countries didn’t hesitate. They began testing as many people as possible almost as soon as the virus appeared. Many of them tested even those who didn’t show symptoms. If someone tested positive they were quarantined, and using GPS and phone data the people they had recent physical contact with were found and isolated as well. Meanwhile, other folks went about their lives while submitting to screenings like mandatory temperature checks before entering public spaces.  In these places there were sometimes lockdowns and town-wide quarantines, but not for very long. Vò, the Italian city that had that country’s first coronavirus death, did something remarkable. According to the Guardian, absolutely everyone in town was tested — 89 of the tests came back positive. Then, after a nine-day period of town-wide isolation, another series of tests was conducted. Six people tested positive that time, and those people continued to be isolated, while others went back to their lives. Workplaces reopened, kids returned to school. Life has come back. Folks can pay their bills.  Vo’s intervention worked, but there was a price. Freedoms were curtailed, as they have been, to some degree, in virtually every place that has contained the virus. Authorities have used surveillance cameras and contact-tracking teams to locate the recent contacts of the infected. In places like Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Vò, folks have shown a willingness to share information with the government, make personal sacrifices and do what is necessary for the greater good.  My phone, which is satellite-tracked by the Taiwan gov to enforce quarantine, ran out of battery at 7:30 AM. By 8:15, four different units called me. By 8:20, the police were knocking at my door. — Milo Hsieh (@MiloHsieh) March 22, 2020 Some might find the measures taken to halt the spread of the infection to be intrusive. But the outcome they led to — THAT is freedom. To be able to return to one’s life, with a job, healthy and safe — THAT is national security.  If those places can do it, why can’t the rest of us? And what kind of change in our thinking would it take?  Nothing is normal anymore There are different kinds of freedoms. When you’re stuck in your house, as I am, you’re not free, that’s for sure. If you’ve been laid off you’re not exactly free, either. How much do we surrender our rights and freedoms as individuals in order to better the health, safety, economic security and well being of everyone, including ourselves? Are we a bucket of crabs or a community? We have changed our behavior before. Ignaz Semmelweis was mocked when, in the mid-19th century, he said that doctors washing their hands before working with patients could save lives. After his death, other germ theorists like Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister showed how correct he was, and the procedure was adopted. Doctors, and all of us, made this change willingly, without coercion. It became a social norm.  What is happening now is an opportunity to learn how to change our behavior. For many of us, our belief in the value of the collective good has eroded in recent decades. But in an emergency that can change quickly. During the Great Depression, new policies to protect the public were introduced. It was accepted that these were necessary to stabilize society and get life back on track. In emergencies, citizens can suddenly cooperate and collaborate. Change can happen. We’re going to need to work together as the effects of climate change ramp up. In order for capitalism to survive in any form, we will have to be a little more socialist. Here is an opportunity for us to see things differently — to see that we really are all connected — and adjust our behavior accordingly.  Are we willing to do this? Is this moment an opportunity to see how truly interdependent we all are? To live in a world that is different and better than the one we live in now? We might be too far down the road to test every asymptomatic person, but a change in our mindsets, in how we view our neighbors, could lay the groundwork for the collective action we’ll need to deal with other global crises. The time to see how connected we all are is now! Another I was driving up Prospect Ave and noticed a couple with a baby walking out of the hospital trying to cross the street. They were visibly upset. My first thought was that they were upset that no one was stopping to let them cross, so I stopped, stopping a bunch of cars behind me, and they took the opportunity to cross the street. The woman snapped out of her frustration for a second, smiling at me and giving a cherished thank-you wave. I can only imagine what that couple is really stressed about. I really hope all it was was being unable to cross the street. It could be, and likely is, something much more stressful. I am stressed out of my gourd myself. Coronavirus is royally derailing my program. I make my living speaking to large crowds of people in public places, and my livelihood is literally being cancelled left and right. Through it all, I'm massively grateful that I live with my amazing mom in a house that's paid for, and that while my family isn't loaded by any stretch, we have enough to forego stresses that billions of people face every day. I'm deeply mindful that the impact coronavirus has on our economy has already devastated countless people exponentially beyond the hit I'm taking. I've always been fascinated by the econosystem, a marvel of interdependence that gives so many people means to not only survive, but thrive. Just trying to get my head around what the suspension of the NBA season alone will cost is dizzying. (and now the NHL TOO?!?! NNOOOOOOOO!!!!) Considering the domino effect of everything else being suspended is otherworldly. While there are much more lethal diseases, the contagiousness of coronavirus means there will be many fatal cases. Thinking of all the people suffering with it and losing loved ones is horrific. We, as in everyone on this planet, are in for a rough ride as we all work to sort this pandemic out. Which is why kindness is now more important than ever, and more powerful than it's ever been. I don't want a cookie for letting pedestrians cross the street. Giving kindness is its own reward. I just want to share how the very simple act of kindness gave me what I needed to keep going today. And the ridiculously beautiful thing is: when I need something to keep going tomorrow, which I will, all I have to do is find someone to be kind to. Very important point: we can totally be kind online and/or otherwise from a distance! See staythef***home.com (note to self Arno!). The practice and cultivation of kindness has never been a fluffy kumbaya game. We humans evolved the ability as a survival trait, and with its comrades compassion, forgiveness, gratitude, and wisdom, kindness has kept us going for 200,000 years. If we're gonna keep going through this, we all gotta triple down on our kindness. This virus has ruined many businesses and lifestyle. The academic calendar has been delayed and businesses will crumble. There would be unemployment and the poor people will be left to suffer l. what about people that live on what they make daily ? The government of my county isn’t even helping and the only thing we can do now is to pray for ourselves and help each other. We need each other now. Many people are definitely going to die, many students won’t be in school and this is really not a good time to be alive I really hope that the government provides for us and protect us from any harm.