Pandemic 2020

It's official. The World Health Organization has declaired COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, a pandemic! Here are some graphics floating around the interwebs to explain why this is a big deal...

From www.technologynetworks.com/immunology/articles/epidemic-vs-pandemic-323471

Epidemic = widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time.
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Pandemic = a disease epidemic that has spread across a large region

You may have heard the phrase "flatten the curve". This is the idea that taking preventative measures reduces the peak of the outbreak by lowering the number of daily cases which won't inundate the healthcare system. It also gives us more time to do things like create new therapies and medications or even develop a vaccine. So, while by the end there may not be much of a reduction in total cases and the duration of the pandemic is extended, everyone who needs to be treated can be treated reducing the number of deaths making for a better overall outcome.

Epidemics, the local occurrence within the pandemic, happen in three parts: containment, community transmission, and control (read all about it here). 

Currently, the US is in the containment phase and containment is when we can start taking action to flatten the curve. This is rather exciting for introverts because one of the best ways to battle the pandemic right now is to prevent community spread. That means canceling events, self-quarantine, and working from home. This is called social distancing, something us introverts do on a regular basis anyway. Just doing what we can for the cause.

A pandemic is over when the disease is either brought under control or there is no one left to infect. While a majority of cases are mild and there's a good chance YOU would recover, for those who are more susceptible to serious  infection (see inforgraphic to the right), lets try for the "under control" option and be hermits for public health.

Our #FlattenTheCurve graphic is now up on @Wikipedia with proper attribution & a CC-BY-SA licence. Please share far & wide and translate it into any language you can! Details in the thread below. #Covid_19 #COVID2019 #COVID19 #coronavirus Thanks to @XTOTL & @TheSpinoffTV pic.twitter.com/BQop7yWu1Q

— Dr Siouxsie Wiles (@SiouxsieW) March 10, 2020

Go to infection2020.com to find out many cases are near you.
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