You may have noticed more epidemics lately. This is because we can expect more epidemics due to climate change. We may as well get used to it. Even if we were able to get to zero greenhouse emissions worldwide overnight, climate change would still get worse for the lifetimes of everyone on earth.
One of the things we can do to be safer during this epidemic is wash our hands a lot. We can use sanitizers to do it, but the antibacterial ones may be making more resistant bacteria. Soap and water and a good and thorough scrubbing may take a little longer, but it works. Health experts recommend that you do not touch your face or mouth, in order to protect yourself from contagious diseases. Wearing a face mask makes this easier. It lowers the numbers of bacteria and viruses that get into your respiratory system.
Another thing that you can do to lower bacteria and virueses in your respiratory system is sea salt nasal irrigation. Neti pots are the traditional way to do nasal irrigation. I use a turkey baster. One can also use an eyedropper, although most are so small it could take a while. It is also possible to simply place your saltwater solution in the palm of your hand and snort your nasal solution. I have done it this way when somebody sneezed or coughed on or near me before. People look at you strangely when you do this in a public restroom. As epidemics become more common, there will probably be a line of people at the sink waiting to do their own nasal irrigation.
Another help to avoid illness is herbs. I like Yarrow. It grows in most of the world. It is a very tough plant and easy to grow. It is especially good for respiratory problems. Whenever I show any symptoms of respiratory problems, I drink a cup of Yarrow tea. If my symptoms do not disappear after one cup, I drink more. It takes care of allergies as well as germs. The relief for allergies can be only temporary, but it still makes them better. It often stops me from getting flu or colds when I get them early enough. If I am kind of slow on dealing with a flu or cold, my Yarrow tea will still relieve the symptoms and shorten the illness.
I listened to some men on the internet talking about false information about the epidemic that included onions as a cure for the coronavirus. I do not like giving that idea no credit, because at least garlic, in the Allium family, actually does help fight off disease. I think people can overdo it, however. A few cloves of roasted garlic could be helpful, but raw garlic juice sounds like too much. A World War II veteran told me that they used to call garlic, "Russian Penicillin" because they used it for medicine so much during the war. Folk medicine often has some truth in it.
It bothers me to see Chinese people suffering so much, especially in Wuhan, and the vicinity. I am working on making medical face masks out of cotton, that can be washed and reused. I want some for myself and others close to me. I hope to make extra so I can send them to China. They need them very badly. Not having enough face masks is likely to cause more people to die. I would like to encourage others to do this also.
I do not know if this is possible, but I wonder if some of the people being frightened and bored in their homes in areas under quarantine, could sew medical equipment? Masks and hats would be easy enough even for newbies.
The hard part would be getting fabric and sewing supplies to them. They are getting food, somehow. At least I hope so. If that is the case, then it might be possible to get them materials to make medical supplies and pick them up when finished. They could be washed and taken to hospitals. That way less people especially medical teams, might not die.
In case anyone else wants to make medical masks for their own use, or to help others, here is information to help you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB2xyo-uSSU.
This is a flat pleated mask.
https://www.craftpassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/face ask-pattern.pd
This is a smaller fitted mask.
I think there are some mask patterns and instructions written in Chinese and other languages.
We need to face it. We will have more epidemics and we need to get used to them, and how to handle them. We also need to learn to help each other. Climate change emergency will last a while. We have a lot of hard work to do to fix the mess we have made of the Earth and it's systems, but we can do it.
