Is there a lesson in this pandemic?

Corona virus – COVID-19 – is there a lesson in this pandemic? I can think of several, but the prime lesson to me would be that WE ARE NOT ALONE, the entire world is experiencing the same infection. So will our response be one of cooperation, to find the best way for everyone to deal with it, now that it is obviously here and factor? Or will our response be one of fear, closing our borders, isolating our citis, and trying to deal with it by putting up walls? We tried that with Mexico – and even in the places where a wall has been built, it does not seem to keep many people out.

I am not at all clear that closing the borders is the answer. It might make us feel as though we are doing something, but it is not clear that the virus is a respecter of borders – at least not so far. Perhaps it is trainable… Hope springs eternal.

In the meantime, if we become ill – which we inevitably will, with something that resembles the flu virus, whether it be Corona or one of the more common flu organisms – how can we best treat ourselves and those around us?

• First, continue the practice of handwashing, which will markedly decrease the viral load that we share.
• Second, sneeze or cough into our elbows rather than into the air – this will also reduce the amount of virus that gets spewed out into the air.
• Third, try to avoid anti-fever agents like aspirin or Tylenol because our bodies immune systems work a little better at higher temperatures – 100 – 101 degrees Fahrenheit feels terrible but is good for white cell function. 104 degrees just plain feels terrible – feel free to reduce that temperature to something more tolerable.
• Fourth, consider homeopathic remedies to mitigate the symptoms of the illness while you are developing immunity to it. Homeopathic Educational Services recommends remedies like Gelsemium (weak, withdrawn, feverish, runny nose), Bryonia (flu symptoms with vomiting), Eupatorium (flu symptoms, stiffness and bone pain), Squilla maritima (AKA red sea onion, for cough with lots of mucus production)

Match the remedy to the major symptoms, and there can be significant relief through homeopathy.

Of course, if the disease progresses to keep lung involvement, and the person’s system is not strong enough to resist it, then respiratory support may very well become necessary – and that necessarily requires hospitalization.

But if we can support the immune system and head the disease off at the pass, that would be far preferable to cowering in fear, each in our own house, our own city, our own country…