Bloomberg Businessweek USA 03.16.2020_

(Darren Dugan) #1
March 16, 2020

Bloomberg

Businessweek

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64


○Anunfamiliar,invisiblethreat
likethenovelcoronaviruscan
make people feel helpless and
turn inward just when they most
need to reach outward, both
helping and leaning on others.
Here are concrete ways you can
help your family, co-workers,
and neighbors.

○ Be a role model


Good personal health habits help
prevent respiratory infections:
Cover coughs and sneezes with
a tissue or an elbow sleeve; wash
hands often with soap and water
for at least 20  seconds; clean
and disinfect frequently touched
objects and surfaces; and avoid
touching one’s eyes, nose, and
mouth. But don’t just  do it—be
conspicuous about it. Talk about
it. Make it a community norm.

○ Promote a workplace
culture that supports
people staying
home when sick 

People should stay home when
they have a respiratory illness.
But many still feel pressured to
work. They need hourly wages,
are essential personnel, or face
looming production goals. If
you’re a manager or business
owner, implement realistic sick
leave policies, be flexible with
workplace arrangements—such
as allowing people to work from

home—andactonpublic-health
recommendations.Foreveryone
else, don’t make your co-workers
feel guilty about not coming in.

○ Steward
resources wisely 

Novel disease outbreaks can
make extra demands on every-
day goods and services, such as
surgical masks and hand sanitizer.
Because community well-being
comes from collaboration and
not competition, weigh your own
needs alongside those of others.
Refrain from hoarding items that
are in short supply.

○ Look out for the
most vulnerable 

Be sensible about not expos-
ing frail seniors or people with
other health conditions to respi-
ratory illness. Neighbors and
family should pitch in with gro-
ceries, supplies, and moral sup-
port when such people must
avoid public spaces. Share phone
numbers, email, and messaging
contacts so it’s easier to reach
out. People who live in racially
and ethnically diverse communi-
ties should double their efforts at
sharing information and offering
mutual aid. If the 2009 H1N1 influ-
enza outbreak is a guide, minority
groups may face higher rates of
complications, hospitalizations,
and deaths.

○Helpwithchild
careandmeals

Efforts to stem the spread
of Covid-19 have sometimes
included school closures.
This can place huge burdens
on working families and keep
needy students from regular
nutritious meals. In addition,
employees at health-care facil-
ities may experience increased
work demands, inhibiting them
from tending to and feeding
their families. Step in where you
can to provide alternative child-
care and meal options for neigh-
bors and family.

○ Remember
that viruses don’t
discriminate 

When an outbreak emerges,
some people blame perceived
outsiders or avoid people from
groups they assume are conta-
gious. Such behaviors turn a mys-
terious illness into something that
feels more controllable. But these
anti-social ways of coping may
build on preexisting prejudices
and blame victims of infection
or their care providers unfairly.
They undermine the social bonds
we’ll need to get through this and
can keep us from the things that
we know help. Again: Wash your
hands. Cover your cough. And
wash your hands. —Monica
Schoch-Spana

Schoch-Spana,
a medical
anthropologist,
is a senior
scholar with
the Center
for Health
Security at the
Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg
School of
Public Health.
(The school
is supported
by Michael
Bloomberg,
founder and
majority owner
of Bloomberg
LP, parent
company of
Bloomberg
Businessweek.)

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