Join #StayTheF–Home, a global initiative to fight the spread of Covid-19 by self-quarantining.

 

Covid-19 doesn’t care about your bullshit. It’s a virus, it spreads like you wouldn’t believe, it can survive on surfaces for around three days (and maybe longer in certain conditions), and the older and sicker you are, the more likely it is to kill you.

 

Worse, younger people who are freshly infected with the disease can go about their business unwittingly spreading it in their communities.

 

One super-spreader in South Korea, dubbed Patient 31, could be personally responsible for sickening hundreds of people.

 

The point? NowRightNow is the time to stay home. No kidding.

 

You and yours need to bunker down. No restaurants. No bars. No movies. No jaunts to the mall. No leaving the house except for necessities, such as groceries and medicine.

 

We all need to do this so we can “flatten the curve”–slow the spread of Covid-19 enough so that it doesn’t overwhelm our health systems.

 

In America, the facts are particularly stark. We have maybe 1 million hospital beds for a population of 300 million-plus.

 

Unlike China, South Korea, Italy, and other nations that are getting pummeled in mid-March 2020, America lacks universal health care and paid sick leave. This makes it more likely that sick people might hesitate to get tested and will go to work knowing they’re sick, because they literally can’t afford not to.

 

Stack these facts on top of the malign incompetence displayed by the president, who, during a visit to the Centers for Disease Control in early March, said he didn’t want afflicted guests aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship to disembark on American shores because “I like the numbers being where they are. I don’t need to have the numbers double because of one ship.”

 

Yes, he really said that. He placed his personal interest in not being made to look bad by soaring Covid-19 case numbers over the health needs of Americans on the ship.

 

Add the lack of widespread Covid-19 testing in America to this mess, which makes it damn near impossible to get a solid read on how many infected people are out there, and… yeah, just stay the fuck home, people.

 

It sucks, it really does, but it’s what we need to do to have a shot in hell of stepping off the grim path that Italy and China have followed to date. This Washington Post article illustrates why, and simulates what it looks like to flatten the curve.

 

Some unnamed folks have launched what they call the Stay the F– Home movement to encourage people around the world to do the tough but right thing.

 

It includes a 12-point Self-Quarantine Manifesto, which reads:

 

1. Don’t panic, but be alert.
2. Wash your hands often and practice good cough and sneeze etiquette.
3. Try to touch your face as little as possible, including your mouth, nose, and eyes.
4. Practice social distancing, no hugs and kisses, no handshakes, no high fives. If you must, use safer alternatives.
5. Do not attend concerts, stage plays, sporting events, or any other mass entertainment events.
6. Refrain from visiting museums, exhibitions, movie theaters, night clubs, and other entertainment venues.
7. Stay away from social gatherings and events, like club meetings, religious services, and private parties.
8. Reduce your amount of travel to a minimum. Don’t travel long distances if not absolutely necessary.
9. Do not use public transportation if not absolutely necessary.
10. If you can work from home, work from home. Urge your employer to allow remote work if needed.
11. Replace as many social interactions as possible with remote alternatives like phone calls or video chat.
12. Do not leave your home if not absolutely necessary.

 

Its website is available in a dozen languages and will probably add more before Covid-19 loosens its grip on us all.

 

See the #StayTheF–Home website.

 

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