What Is Coronavirus?

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus.

Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment.  Older people, and those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are more likely to develop serious illness.

The best way to prevent and slow down transmission is be well informed about the COVID-19 virus, the disease it causes and how it spreads. Protect yourself and others from infection by washing your hands or using an alcohol based rub frequently and not touching your face.

The COVID-19 virus spreads primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes, so it’s important that you also practice respiratory etiquette (for example, by coughing into a flexed elbow).

At this time, there are no specific vaccines or treatments for COVID-19. However, there are many ongoing clinical trials evaluating potential treatments. WHO will continue to provide updated information as soon as clinical findings become available.

~World Health Organization WHO

Whether you are familiar with what exactly the human coronavirus is, and why it’s different from any of the other strains of the flu that we’ve dealt with in the past, or not… by now you’ve undoubtedly witnessed some of the consequences of it.

With the normal sounds of the hustle and bustle, that are characteristic of any typical Wednesday morning in the city, now replaced by a deafening silence…many people are in deep reflection about their lives, myself included. Some are having to face the stark reality that they’ve been putting faith and confidence, in things other than God. Many of us are coming to understand just what privileged lives, we’ve been living.

On Friday morning at 3am, my banks servers went down. I discovered this when I went online to order some much needed supplies Friday at 10am, and Costco kicked back the transaction as “Payment Failed.” Knowing that I had plenty of money in the bank to cover the purchase, I called my bank to find out that my money was trapped in an account I couldn’t access, and that no electronic transactions/debits or purchases were going to be able to go through, until it’s resolved. The woman on the other end of the line, calmly told me that it may be several days to a week, before they can get the servers back up and running again!

Thankfully my mother was able to allow me use of her card, and I was able to order the supplies on Friday, as I’d planned. However, those things I ordered on Friday are in fact OUT OF STOCK (along with almost everything else) as of this past Saturday, and the banks servers are still down today.

I say all that to say this: we are all far more fragile than we like to admit, or even think about. We put faith in stocks, bonds, retirement funds, rental properties, and monthly income that we think’ll always be there, but what if it wasn’t? What if today, all you have in your wallet, gas tank, and pantry is all you have? I don’t say this to incite fear, but to ask you to asses now, where you put your faith. Is it in God? Or have you put something up as an idol, above God?

In the final analysis God won’t ask you how many luxury vacations you went on…He’ll ask how many people you invited into a relationship with Him. He won’t ask you how many rental properties gave you passive income, but how many homeless people you housed. He won’t ask you if you got a reservation at the best restaurants in town, but how many hungry children you fed. The things that seem important, through the eyes of someone self centered, or with the “zeitgeist” (spirit of the age) are NOT at all what is important to someone who is in contrast, filled with the Spirit of God.

How’s your vision been in 2020 so far? And is this recent pandemic of Corona-virus, and all the consequences thereof changing the way you see the world, your behavior, and your priorities?

I think this Corona-virus may very well save many more, than it kills.