Viruses, Soap, Cities and Us

I write about the world around me.

But when that world is so schizophrenic . . .? It’s a beautiful day, the dog is happy to see us, I feel great; and our county had no known cases of Covid-19 as I started this column – then suddenly did. 

 

Elsewhere people are dying. Doctors are without masks. Patients lack ventilators. Urban medical personnel risk their health daily. Our bars and restaurants and stadiums are as silent as graveyards.

There are things that feel urgent to say, though others are saying them.

First, soap. Use it. It’s a miracle: soap is pin-shaped molecules, each with a hydrophilic (loves water) head and a hydrophobic (hates water) tail. Washing, you surround microorganisms (including coronavirus) with soap molecules. The hydrophobic tails, to hide from the water, wedge themselves into the microbes, like crowbars, prying them apart. Essential proteins spill out, rendering the virus impotent. Meanwhile other soap molecules disrupt chemical bonds the viruses use to cling to your skin. Soap lifts virus molecules, suspending them in floating cages – until you rinse them away. Neat!

Second, don’t be shy about social distancing. People are still asking whether they’ll offend by wearing gloves and a mask? A couple of U.S. Congressmen kept shaking hands (from courtesy or habit, or a habit, or because of certainty that their nice, well-dressed supporters and colleagues couldn’t possibly have cooties) and have tested positive. No one will be offended by your keeping your distance, refraining from hugs and handshakes, or wearing a mask. (Except some idiot not worth risking your health over.) Protecting yourself helps protect everyone. 

 

Watching footage of spring break students in crowds at beaches, I want to shout a warning. Yo! I know what you heard (and how we all feel when young) that it’s only about old folks; but the experts are learning Covid-19 can seriously harm the health of younger folks, too.

We were the last two customers in the Shed Wednesday, as the restaurant learned of the new closure order. We have a great line-up of local restaurants and coffee houses we love – as, I’m sure, do you – such as Milagro, Nessa’s, Vintage Mercado, and many more – and the Co+Op, still offering made-to-order sandwiches and sides to go. If your favorites offer takeout during the crisis, take some. (Authorities say there’s no evidence this gets transmitted through food preparation/service.) And support local small businesses as much as you can when we return to “normal.” 

 

Meanwhile, when we get to laugh with friends, we’re grateful. And our fresh-food farmers’ market vendors seem like heroes. 

 

For some this crisis will be a blessing in disguise. As we rush madly about, many of us have lost the ability to be alone with ourselves. To stop for a moment and contemplate. Many will now have that opportunity, particularly since there are no sports to watch on TV. Families (for better or for worse) will be spending more time together. 

 

I wonder if we might even benefit from the spirit of unity that should mark what’s in effect a war. Perhaps battling Covid-19 together will dwarf our political differences, and perhaps that spirit will linger a while after we pull through. (Perhaps, too, both Republicans and Democrats will refocus on nominating and electing high officials who are thoughtful, capable, and qualified – and sometimes put our nation ahead of their personal interests now and then.)

Keep healthy and safe!

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[The above column appeared this morning, Sunday, 22 March 2020  (wouldn't it be fun to live long enough to write 22 February 2222!?) in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website the newspaper's website and on KRWG's website.  A radio version will air during the week on KRWG ("Rreflections on Life amid Coronavirus) and on KTAL, 101.5 FM (www.lccommunityradio.org), and will be available later today on KRWG's website.  I also just noticed that KRWG has also posted "How Life Is Changing after COVID-19"  -- reflections on the same subject by our friend Algernon D'Ammassa -- who's already got his spoken version up, too.  Jeez, you're industrious, man!  Since he's a thoughtful Buddhist, I think I'll read that. . . . Well, now I have, and recommend it.  Not merely because I agree with A, but because it's well and clearly expressed.]]

[blink! I've been doing half-hour radio updates on COVID-19 on KTAL-LP Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 9 a.m., with the Wednesday one sort of folded into our regular 8-10 a.m. "Speak Up, Las Cruces!" show.  So I've been keeping up.  Friday my column said we'd had no cases in Dona Ana County ("for a moment!") but as soon as I sent it to S-N Editor Lucas Peerman, he advised me we now had one.  By Saturday we had our second.  No surprise.  On radio I'd guessed there were a few cases wandering around here untested.  We should all assume there will be plenty.  Let's hope we don't end up with the kind of medical overload they're experiencing in Baltimore, New York, and other cities.  Seattle is reportedly tracking Italy. (On Wednesdays show -- or on one of the updates -- we'll talk with a nurse in Baltimore, a Las Cruces native.)  Note: by Sunday afternoon, we're officially up to 65 cases in New Mexico, four in Dona Ana County.  Small numbers, and I hope they stay small, obviously; but our local cases doubled each day -- despite limited testing, and (I hear) long lines of cars containing people who have reason to believe they should be tested.  ]

[ Can't say too often:
no need to shake hands!
wash hands frequently -- and well.  
"Your only enemy is your hand!" in the sense that if you don't touch mouth, nose, or eyes with unwashed hands, and don't stand in the path of someone's cough or sneeze, you are extremely unlikely to get this disease.  (CDC says no evidence of getting it from food service, so using drive-in take-out should be relatively safe.)  If you wash hands when you leave home, when you arrive from outside, and often at other times, you're doing a service to the community (not just yourself) because our greatest vulnerability is a whole bunch of people getting this virus at once.  (But remember, we still live in drought country, so after wetting your hands, please turn off the water while your hands rub each other, and only turn the water back on when you need to rinse.  Jeez, life is complicated!)]

[Here's something I hadn't known (although most serious people probably did!) about why soap works (courtesy of the NY Times Digest, 17 March): soap has a hyrdophilic (loves water) head and a hydrophobic (hates water) tail.  So when we wash our hands, soap molecules surround microorganisms on our skin with soap molecules.  The soap molecules' tails, trying to hide from the water, wedge themselves into certain microbes and, like crowbars, pry them apart, rendering them powerless -- while other molecules weaken the chemical bond through which the virus clings to our skin, so that rinsing sends them down the drain.  Seems like a miracle.  
No one knows when people first figured out soap, or whether it came accidentally from sacrificing animals or cooking vegetables, but in the 1840's a Hungarian doctor, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, noticed that when doctors washed their hands before operating, far fewer women died after childbirth.  Other doctors ridiculed the notion, and ostracized Semmelweis, who was tossed into an asylum, where he was severely beaten, and died from infected wounds.  That'll teach him!  Sic semper innovators!] 
[Keep safe and well -- and enjoy this crazy moment, despite all its bad effects on most of us!  Don't let all this stress you more than it has to.]
[P.S.: A slightly smaller Farmers' Market (no crafts and souvenirs, but some healthy, tasty, fresh local vegetables and such!) is ongoing Saturday mornings (8-1) in the Plaza.  We bicycle over there each Saturday morning.  Great food, supporting those vendors is important, the food's fresher and healthier than most food, and carrying your own bag outdoors beats pushing a shopping cart indoors.]