Thank You, Coronavirus!

Transmission Electron Microscopic image from the first US case (CDC/ C.S. Goldsmith and A. Tamin)

Well, not really the Coronavirus. Covid-19, you can hop back on your bat and fly straight to hell.

Better stated, thank you to all who toil at great risk to keep the disease at bay, to keep us connected, to make sure essential services are not disrupted.

Thank you to the overworked medical professionals who go into the danger zone every day, all day, to treat the sick. Those masks and garments are not 100% effective, so many, many people are risking their own health to treat those in need, multiple times every day! And a good way to depress the immune system and increase risk is to be overworked and tired.

Thank you to everyone who is pulling together by staying apart. Thank you to everyone flattening the curve by social distancing, and particularly to those who are quarantined so that we lower the probability of communicating the disease.

Thank you to those of you who are hurting due to your loss of paycheck. Thank you not because you are hurting, or because you don’t have work, but because you are doing the right thing by staying home and are suffering in support of everyone’s health.

Thank you to all who are maintaining the food supply. Farmers, truckers, supermarkets, and more who keep famine from being part of the pandemic.

Thank you to all the folks who work behind the scenes, and always have, to support our infrastructure. The power is still on, we can meet via the internet, our mail and packages are delivered. One can even fly and find a hotel room if travel is essential. And we’re not buried in mounds of trash.

Thank you to all working in warehouses, sending us the stuff we want so that we can stay comfortable and somewhat less than stir-crazy while we wait this out.

Thank you to all the skeleton crews keeping manufacturing and business on life support, awaiting the day when coronavirus control is real.

Thank you restaurateurs for continuing to provide meals as takeout. May you earn enough to tide you over to the huge rush that pent-up demand will deliver when this is over.

Our canine companions deliver a hearty thank you. There are many, many happy pooches now that we humans are steadfastly going for daily walks. We finally understand why our dogs get so excited when it’s time for their single daily escape from the house.

Thank you to all who are working to ameliorate the virus crisis, unfortunately unmentioned here.

And not a thank you, but a salute to those who contracted the virus and did not make it to recovery. If this is a war, you were the first wave, and hopefully we are learning from your example how to better treat others.