Don’t Panic - Covid 19 Pandemic

*This article was originally published on 20 March 2020 and has been kept in its original form

Strange times we find ourselves in, with a multitude of panic, fear, misinformation (which South Africa has currently made illegal) and aggressive toilet paper buying setting in. We thought it valuable to share some insights regarding the current state of affairs, so get your hand sanitiser ready and we’ll jump right in.

There are three ways in which people are currently dealing with Pandemic fears: 1. The rational way (self-isolation, propped up hygiene, and doing everything to help your immune system). 2. The irrational way (furiously stocking up hand sanitiser, toilet paper and shouting that the end is nigh). 3. A stiff helping of denial (chalking this up to the media just out to spread misinformation).

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).[9] The disease was first identified in 2019 in Wuhan, China, and has since spread globally, resulting in the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic. Common symptoms include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. While the majority of cases result in mild symptoms, some progress to severe pneumonia and multi-organ failure. The rate of deaths per number of diagnosed cases is on average 3.4%, ranging from 0.2% in those under 20 to approximately 15% in those over 80 years old. The infection is typically spread from one person to another via respiratory droplets produced during coughing and sneezing.  Time from exposure to onset of symptoms is generally between two and 14 days, with an average of five days. Recommended measures to prevent infection include frequent hand washing, maintaining distance from others, and not touching one’s face. The use of masks is recommended for those who suspect they have the virus and their caregivers, but not the general public. There is no vaccine or specific antiviral treatment for COVID-19. Management involves treatment of symptoms, supportive care, isolation, and experimental measures. The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the 2019–20 coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). ( Wikipedia ) The only thing we as a population can do is try and slow down the spread to try and not overwhelm our hospitals. Forced quarantine of an entire population is one option, but disciplined social distancing, hygiene and contact precautions are more effective.  This spreads out the number of very sick patients over time and allows the medical profession to offer their expert resources to more people. Something I read earlier this week said that you should not self-isolate to stop yourself from getting infected, but rather act as if you are infected to stop the spread to others, especially the more susceptible individuals in society, those of advanced age and those with pre-existing conditions. In an age of information, where information is abundant, it seems more difficult to find the correct information, so as a public service, see below :

Following advice is from Dr Anthony Allwood at Vergelegen Mediclinic 1. Explain to your kids what is going on in the world. They will pick up your anxiety if you don’t. 2. Strict Social distancing: Prepare and Plan to stay at home as much as possible. We are not allowing our family to go to any more social or public gatherings. No parties or braais. 3. No close physical contact within 2-3 meters outside the home. We’ll go for walks in the open or the beach. Then we’ll go home. Period. 4. We will consider every surface and object outside the home a potential source of the virus. 5. We will all wash our hands thoroughly with soap and water many times a day at home. 6. We will not touch our eyes, mouth and nose – the only time we’ll use alcohol hand rub is when we cannot wash our hands. Like in the car, or after touching anything foreign, like trolleys, lift buttons, etc outside the home. We’ll wipe down anything bought off the shelves, or delivered, with an alcohol cloth/soap and water. 7. We want to minimise trips into crowded shops, and so are slowly building a supply of essentials to cater for 2 weeks at home in the case of forced home quarantine. Stockpiling masses of stuff will only put others at risk. These might be friends or those less fortunate. There is time enough not to panic. When there are cases reported in our hospital then we will avoid the shops as much as possible. 8. We want to make sure our friends and neighbours and domestic workers are also taken care of. We plan to tell our maid to stay at her home and pay her something as usual. Their community is going to be the hardest hit, and I want to support her and advise her. 9. We need to be there for each other and the poor. Especially the poor. The burden is on us as an affluent society to limit the spread as much as possible and try to #flattenthecurve. We need to step up to the plate, take responsibility, be brave, do not panic, and to religiously follow the advice given to us by our NICD, WHO, our government and local leaders. There are no exceptions. 10. Please don’t panic. It will make it all worse. We have time to prepare. 11. If you have a sustained high temp, with a continuous hacking dry cough, with or without a positive contact or recent travel, then you need to get tested and advised. Go to the Medi-clinic Casualty first where they will advise or admit you if necessary, and arrange for testing. Test kits are limited and unnecessary negative tests will mean someone else won’t get one.

Some Good News Some good news that appeared recently is that Wuhan, China (ground zero for Corona) with aggressive testing in place, has reported that no new cases have been reported, which could be considered a massive win for the efforts that have been put in place to stop the spread of the Virus. “Nature has hit the reset button” – Wildlife that typically kept away from the Italian coast and Venice canal appears to have returned, thanks to a lack of tourism and docking cruise ships. It seems that humans spending some time away from our everyday lives has given the planet a chance to breathe again, with some of the lowest air pollution numbers recently being recorded.

What we are doing At Fractal Capital, we have taken a prudent stance to conduct ALL meetings via phone, WhatsApp or video conferencing (Zoom or Skype). We can still serve and offer all services in a digital space, whilst keeping ourselves and our community safe. We are truly lucky that our approach to financial planning and service has always been paper-free thus we are well-positioned to continue with business as (un)usual, all of our partners and providers have given us the green light that they are also ready to continue with their support, some have mentioned that turn around times might be slightly affected. We will, however, endeavour to make service as prompt as possible. Please try to take precaution and look out for yourselves and each other. So far we have a 100% success rate of making it through difficult times, and we are sure that this time will be no different. See you on the other side…