Can we stop? And take a breath?

This is some scary stuff – no question. The Director of the Ohio Department of Health has announced there are over 100,000 Ohioans who have likely been infected (NBC4). There is no stopping or avoiding the Coronavirus, but rushing out to the grocery store and treating your anxiety with toilet paper isn’t going to help you. In fact, you’re likely just creating a larger risk of being infected and/or infecting others.

From everything I’ve read, this is going to be a new state of stasis, not for a week, but for a few months. The graphs I’m seeing is not reducing the number of cases – the goal is just to slow it down so doctors don’t have to ration care. That’s what has happened in other countries.

Fear right now, that’s rational. I am thirty-seven and I’ve never seen anything like this. But what can I do?

• I can be informed by good news sources.
• I can utilize best practices (hand washing, social distancing).
• I can avoid unnecessary risk.
• I can continue to keep my life as normal as possible.
• When I am feeling anxious or overwhelmed, I can unplug from what is causing the anxiety and find something productive. Go for a walk, write, run on the treadmill, knit, shoot hoops, bake – whatever gets you back to center. Sitting and ruminating with the television on is not an answer.

Look, if you need toilet paper, go buy it. If you need something, go get it. But panicking and causing artificial scarcity is not helping anyone. It’s an unnecessary risk and potentially creating hardship for others.

Everything is going to work out.