The Virus and Interesting Similarities to Rehabbing

In rehabbing old beat up houses, we do three things. 1) Don’t buy in a bad neighborhood. 2) Make the perimeter fencing continuous and strong. 3) Use good doors and windows to help make the house secure. (We likely do more than just these three things, but these are the early defensive steps.)
 
1.  Social distancing is like staying in a good neighborhood. It helps keep the virus away and prevents you from giving it to someone else. We cannot really be sure we don’t have it, or that others who look just fine don’t have it, so why take those risks. Also, masks are fine but for the most part, they only work on bigger water droplets that will fall to the ground anyway. The small stuff we exhale in normal breath can stay airborne for three hours and is far too small for all but the best masks to catch. Here is a document from The National Academies Press that goes into detail: http://nap.edu/25776
 
2.  A strong fence equals all the steps we take to keep the virus from entering our bodies. Unfortunately we must assume anything that has been touched by any hands is contaminated. Letters, packages, anything from a store, produce... everything! It all needs to be wiped down with alcohol or washed. The counter it gets put down on needs sanitizing. The bags or boxes it comes in are suspect. Clothes and hair can carry the virus. Soap is needed as our hands can’t take the 140 degrees needed to kill the beast. I spray my hands with alcohol when I enter and exit my car. I spray the handles and steering wheel. And of course, I’m spending a LOT less time in the car. This virus has a lipid shell, so alcohol or soap work to break it down and deactivate the not-really-alive bug. And, OK, a mask won’t hurt, just don’t be fooled into thinking that it’s making you virus-proof!
 
3.  The final protection (strong windows and doors) is your own immune system and overall health. I’m trying to stay healthy and have added antivirals and immune system helpers. You might want to look into things like cat’s claw, lemon balm, garlic, echinacea, olive leaf extract, Arabinex, chaga, zinc, licorice, ginger and mullein extract. There are lots more to research and learn about as well! Here’s a good place to start: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/antiviral-herbs  
 
One more interesting bit that just came out is how air pollution affects health. Here’s a quote, “The study, from researchers at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, examined 3,080 U.S. counties. A small increase in long-term exposure to fine particulate pollution – of just one microgram per cubic meter – is associated with a 15 percent greater likelihood of dying of covid-19. This stark difference may be explained by the lung damage such pollution causes over time.” https://tinyurl.com/verv23z
 
Half of this all is for you to stay well, and half is to prevent giving it to others. The trajectory of the virus right now is threatening. We need to do more than seems to make sense, just to avoid being part of the problem. And here’s a little more reading to round things out: http://nap.edu/25765
 
This is no different than being in a war. We all have a common enemy so must work together, each in our own way to make it through this interesting time. Still, one can’t miss noticing all the people who are stepping up and doing what they can to help out in so many different ways. It’s very nice to see!
 
Yours, Larry

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