Today, we stray a bit from our usual blog entries, and let’s talk about your safety during these trying times. Our customers, such as you, are the lifeblood of our industry, and we’d like for each and every one of you to stay safe.
While we’ve published content last week related to the coronavirus, we’ll go a bit more in-depth today, and we’ll talk about one of the most important responsibilities during these times: Flattening the curve.
You might have seen it on your social media feeds as a hashtag (#flattenthecurve) and if you haven’t looked into it, it’s a very simple concept, and we’re here to talk about it today.
As the coronavirus continues to infect more and more people every day all over the world, we here at Elinz understand that our health systems need a bit of assistance from all of us. While Australia still hasn’t implemented complete lockdown all over the country, it falls to us to make meaningful decisions and stop the virus in its tracks.
How do we exactly do that? We do that by flattening the curve- and here’s what it means.
Typically, outbreaks such as the coronavirus spread from person to person through a method of transmission. The coronavirus isn’t exactly airborne, but it can spread through droplets - which means if someone is infected, they can spread the virus by sneezing, coughing, or when they’ve been touching their faces with some fluids and then they touch something else.
The virus can last on surfaces from anywhere between hours and days, with temperature and material making the figure variable. What’s important is:
It can also spread as droplets- when someone sneezes, laughs, coughs or talks, they can spray into the air and into someone else’s respiratory tracts.
Now that we have this information, we can avoid situations or habits where we can be infected, such as:
While all equally important, the last part is important to flattening the curve.
The curve refers to the number of people that are infected, and that need to be admitted into a hospital system. If we’re looking for examples, countries such as Italy failed to contain the virus immediately, and as a result, their healthcare system was overwhelmed.
If we were to talk at it from a bar graph, it would look like a steep cliff. Literally a 0-100 kind of situation, which looks like this:
Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/italy/
As you can see, the curve leads to a steep climb. And that kind of climb literally overwhelms the healthcare system. With more and more cases every day as a result of transmission, the system becomes overwhelmed enough to not be able to treat patients that are in need of critical care.
As more and more critical and at-risk cases continue to come in, hospitals are beleaguered and as a result, are not able to take in more people. And some other critical cases are left by the wayside or are not treated in a timely manner, which leads to more deaths.
A flattened curve, by comparison, looks like this:
Source: CDC
While the numbers still rise, hospitals aren’t overwhelmed. An acceptable number of cases come in which is still well within the capacity of the healthcare system. Realistically, those infected will still rise in number as time goes by, but by flattening the curve, the numbers aren’t that high and are still well manageable.
As a result, unnecessary deaths caused by non-admittance and lack of resources such as manpower and hospital space are avoided. The end result: less people die, and the virus is eventually contained as the curve lowers day by day.
While there’s no debating that the virus has incredible potency when it comes to transmission, we can still flatten the curve and eventually, decrease the curve as time goes on by being careful and assisting the healthcare system.
And the best part? We can all contribute to flattening the curve.
We’ve covered some major points in one of our posts, but here’s what you can do for your part:
It's a very simple concept that can help save our lives. It denies the virus any further channels to transmit itself on and makes the job of healthcare workers easier. Most importantly, it directly leads to fewer deaths and less sick people.
So do your part, and stay safe!
If you have a need for electronics and car gear during this season, we have so many available for you here at Elinz. If you’re looking for dash cams & reverse cameras to kit your car out or have something to do with your vehicle, we’ve got them all here, available for safe and secure delivery. Stay safe and shop from the comfort of your home today with Elinz, and flatten the curve while getting what you need!
If you're looking to secure your food and make them last better during these trying times, get your food vacuum sealer here. Light and compact, they’re perfect for securing your perishable food and packing them reliably while staying safe inside your home.
Stay safe out there!
