DailyOh! Why you can't stop touching your face, to the disease that wiped off the mastodon
You can prevent the spread of coronavirus by 40 per cent by just not touching your face. But why do we keep touching our face all the time?
Hello there,
Hope you are being vigilant against the spread of coronavirus, but not panicking. The thing with panic is that while it doesn’t solve any of our problems, it adversely impacts our health. And health right now is of prime importance. We must do everything to ensure we stay in good health. What we must avoid at all costs is panic.
That said, let us move to updates on the virus. Now, we all know that the disease has been spreading among humans, but today came a report which confirmed the first case of a human to animal transfer of Covid-19.
Again, do not panic. The case has been reported from Hong Kong, where the dog of a person who was infected with the virus has been tested 'weak positive' for the disease. The dog, a pomeranian, has been tested positive for coronavirus but only with a “low-level of infection”. We wish the dog a speedy recovery. We wish the same for all humans too who have been infected.
You know since the virus is a new one, not much is known about it. Scientists are yet to even figure out the source from which Covid-19 was transferred to humans. They are fairly certain, however, that it came from an animal. Now, when a disease is transferred from animals to humans, it is called a zoonotic disease. When a disease is transferred from humans to animals, then too, it is called a zoonotic disease, but some scientists prefer calling it reverse zoonosis for the sake of clarity. Whatever one calls it, the case of the pomeranian reminded us of the extinction of mastodons - distant ancestors of our elephants, if you will - that were found in North America and Asia till about 11,000 years ago.
Now, 11,000 years is a long time when seen in relation to human life, but in relation to the life of the universe and the many universes that exist, 11,000 is nothing. Anyway, no matter how long back in time they existed, mastodons suddenly disappeared from the face of earth. Not completely disappeared. Their fossils were found later by humans. So, basically they died, not disappeared.
Two scientists, Bruce Rothschild and Richard Laub began studying the possible reasons that could have led to the wiping out of the giant animal. They investigated 113 skeletons of the animal and found that 52 per cent of them had signs of tuberculosis, what we also call TB. Now, TB, along with HIV/AIDS, is the leading cause of adult deaths world over. It kills between 1.5 million and 2 million people a year. TB is found to spread from humans to animals and also from animals to humans. In the case of the mastodons, it is believed they got it from humans and became extinct because of it.
No, don’t panic, because that was a time science had not developed, so spread of diseases could not be stopped. Doctors are advising that we boost our immunity to deal with not just coronavirus, but all kinds of viruses, bacteria, infections et al. Don’t just depend on eating healthy, we mean that is the most important things, but eating healthy alone won’t help. So, sleep, exercise and manage stress to build a system that can protect you against diseases. This, we know, is easier said than done. But it is an absolute must to have a good immunity. You know you wouldn’t need a cure, if you can avoid it.
But do you know where the word immunity comes from? Let us tell you, because immunity is our Word Of The Day.
Immunity comes from the word immune, which comes from the Latin word immunis, which means “exempt from public service”. By extension, it also came to mean exemption from disease, injury, insults, or accusations. The term ‘immunes’, is also found in the poem Pharsalia written around 60 BC by the poet Marcus Annaeus Lucanus to describe a North African tribe's resistance to snake venom. Pharsalia is an epic poem, just like Mahabharata, but is shorter.
Now, whether you have a strong immunity or a weak one, you need to take precautions because a virus or bacteria could be stronger than your immunity. We are sure you looked up the internet to figure out ways to prevent getting infected with the coronavirus. And we are sure that you found washing hands is the most effective way to prevent it, even though you need to maintain overall hygiene. Experts are also saying that we should avoid touching our face, mouth and eyes to avoid the virus from infecting us. But touching the face is one habit people are finding difficult to give up. Have you ever tried not touching your face consciously or ever wondered how frequently you touch your face? We never did. But when expert advice against touching of face and eyes trickled in, we realised that it was damn difficult to resist. So we did some digging in to figure out why we touch our face so frequently.
Psychologists are of the opinion that we do so because the act subconsciously signals you're self-aware to others around you. This is an act of public self-awareness. Now, self-awareness and public self-awareness are two different things.
Public self-awareness generally is our awareness of ourselves from the perspective of others. This mostly happens when we are interacting with someone. When we interact with someone, we are sensitive to their facial expressions to understand them and touching of our own face reflects we are sensitive to our facial expressions. This is a subconscious process.
So, how can we get rid of the habit? By being aware and knowing this: you can prevent the spread of coronavirus by 40 per cent by just not touching your face. You can also keep your hands occupied (stress ball, fidget spinner, etc.) or set an alarm. Hope that helps.
While that may or may not help you, as we said, we hope it does, it certainly isn’t helping Bond. James Bond. The scare of a further spread of the virus has managed to scare James Bond. The release date of latest Bond movie, No Time To Die, has been pushed by seven months.
The Bond, of course, can say it wasn’t his decision because it the producers of the movie who decided that the movie will release in November 2020, instead of April this year. But the tweet with the announcement on social media has come from James Bond, so we say James Bond can fight everything but not coronavirus. And well, he certainly has No Time To Die.
Again, do not panic because doctors and scientist can fight the virus, even if James Bond can’t.
MGM, Universal and Bond producers, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, announced today that after careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace, the release of NO TIME TO DIE will be postponed until November 2020. pic.twitter.com/a9h1RP5OKd
— James Bond (@007) March 4, 2020
You can fight it too, on your part, by taking proper precautions. Avoiding public places is part of the precautions that you can take to keep yourself safe. Did you hear Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said he would not be participating in any Holi milan programme this year?
Experts across the world have advised to reduce mass gatherings to avoid the spread of COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus. Hence, this year I have decided not to participate in any Holi Milan programme.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 4, 2020
We say it’s a good move and we hope it helps everyone know the importance of caution. Talking of Holi, did you know that Holi in Modi’s constituency is also played with the ashes of the dead? Now, that doesn’t happen across the city but on the Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi.
Pandit Chhannulal Mishra from Banaras has even sung a beautiful song on the tradition. Whether you plan to play Holi or not, we suggest you listen to the song:
Two days before Holi is celebrated across India, including on Manikarnika Ghat, India would be playing the Women's T20 World Cup final. Many don’t know about it because, well, not many follow women’s cricket. Yes, many don’t follow cricket itself. So, whether you follow it or not, India will play the final on March 8, which also happens to be International Women’s Day.
But did you know that the first Women’s World Cup was played in 1973, two years before the first Men’s World Cup? The 1973 World Cup was played in England. The country also ended up winning the trophy.
England’s hopes of entering the 2020 finals, however, were washed away with the rains in Australia, where the World Cup is being held. Not a single ball could be bowled in the match.
While India won entry into the finals, it was former skipper Mithali Raj, who won hearts with this tweet.
As an indian I am absolutely thrilled india has made it to the finals . But as a cricketer I feel for the English girls . I’d never want to find myself or my team in that situation. But the rules are such and it is what it is. Congratulations girls.This is big. #INDvENG #T20WC
— Mithali Raj (@M_Raj03) March 5, 2020
We agree with Mithali Raj and wish Team India all the best for Sunday.
With that, we will take your leave for today.
Take care of your health. Also, take care not to panic.
We will be back tomorrow.