I used to think humans needed a natural predator (aside from each other and the occasional wild animal). What if, when we walked outside, we had to look in the sky and make sure a huge bird of prey wasn’t about to swoop down and carry us off? What if, when we walked outside, we had to be aware of every bush and every tree, because some large animal might want to make tacos out of us? Now, we have that predator, but we can’t see it. We walk outside, we look in the sky, we look around us, and we don’t see anything. We think we are safe.
It is called coronavirus.
As much as we have been hearing about coronavirus or COVID-19, we still in our hearts believe everything is OK, because we can’t see it. We go about our lives without wearing a mask everywhere we go or without washing your hands with soap and water and not touching our faces, and we don’t know that we encountered our natural predator. If we do come into contact with someone who’s spreading the virus, it can be a few weeks before we may become aware of it — if the infected person reports back to us or we become infected, too.
We think we have escaped. We think we didn’t see the predator because it wasn’t there. But the predator saw us. The predator attacked us, and we did not even know it. It was a week or two weeks before we found out that we had already been attacked by a natural predator, and then it was already taking us apart. In many cases, the virus is spread by people who don’t even know they have it. Here’s what Dr. Anthony Fauci, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said about it in June, 2020.
“I’ve been dealing with viral outbreaks for the last 40 years. I’ve never seen a single virus — that is, one pathogen — have a range where 20% to 40% of the people have no symptoms,” he told a House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing on the Trump administration’s response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/fauci-says-covid-19-has-one-characteristic-hes-never-seen-before-ive-been-dealing-with-viral-outbreaks-for-the-last-40-years-2020-06-23?reflink=mw_share_twitter
Will we be humbled by the coronavirus? Some of us already have been. We’re respecting its destructive power and protecting ourselves by wearing masks when we go out, practicing good hand washing hygiene, and keeping a safe distance from others. Others will fail to comprehend the danger posed by this virus, and they will pay the ultimate price. They will lose their lives. Maybe worse, they will cause the death of a loved one.