Corona virus? Use a hankie!

While I was born some decades after WWII, my grandparents almost made me feel as if I had lived through it with them. I almost have palpable memories, even if they are genetic, rather than lived experience.

Sometimes when modern life goes a bit too insane or paranoid I seek refuge in the common sense of those times.

How did the message 'Coughs and sneezes spread diseases' become out of date exactly?

Why did they stop fining people for spitting in the street when TB (tuberculosis) can still be spread this way, and is actually back in the UK again after a long absence?

I can only assume we must have become careless and complacent, losing our laws, common sense and manners when antibiotics were invented and multiple vaccinations came along, assuming they could save us from all ills.

Pre-antibiotics, common sense, rigidly enforced, was all there was. And a bar of carbolic.

So far it seems the Corona virus has killed no more people than the average flu outbreak. The scary bit is the unusual strain of it, the fact there is no vaccine and no anti-viral medication.

In reality there are plenty of people who WON'T get it, even if it spreads worldwide because their immune systems are too strong or they are symptomless carriers. As with any disease it is the vulnerable who are most at risk, the very old, the very young and those with pre-existing conditions or who are poor or malnourished. Those with compromised immune systems, in other words.

So before we go nuts stockpiling masks, goggles and spacesuits, why don't governments go back to basics in their nationwide emergency measures? When governments actually start introducing nationwide emergency measures, that is.

Fine everyone who coughs or sneezes without using a handkerchief or who spits in the street.
Insist that everyone from the very young to the very old washes their hands at every opportunity and train all cleaning staff to pay particular attention to door handles, light switches, toilet flushes and everything else likely to be touched by multiple persons in public places. In fact I am staggered we have not had foot-operated WC flushes and handbasin taps for years, like many Italian cities do.

Enforcing sensible behaviours and encouraging people to look after themselves (and each other) will surely rid the world of this virus quicker than anything else, and until it either burns itself out, as viruses eventually do, or an antidote is found.

Good personal hygiene should never go out of fashion, irrespective of how many antibac chemicals and medicines are invented.

Another aspect of WWII, sadly forgotten, is the equally useful saying 'Keep Calm and Carry On.' It is both unhelpful and downright irresponsible to allow or facilitate mass hysteria. The virus of fear can be just as deadly.

Finally a friend and journalist - Fleur Kinson - offered the following thought which I quote in full; 'Why hasn't the World Health Organization forced the end of the Chinese market practices that cause ALL of these modern epidemics? Swine flu, bird flu, SARS and all the rest have been born in crowded Chinese markets where live and slaughtered animals are clumped together with people in unhygienic conditions. It is known and anticipated that all these new epidemic viruses arise in these environments in China. Why has no international agency forced the Chinese to adopt difference practices? Countless lives across the world are affected. We know where these things start, so why don't we stop those environments?'